It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for Holy Cross this season compared to recent years.

Still, the stage is set for a possible fifth straight Patriot League title – whether shared or outright – or an FCS at-large bid into the postseason for a third straight year, depending on how things unfold at Fitton Field in the season finale against Georgetown on Saturday.

More young players (especially on defense) have been asked to contribute this season than maybe any season under head coach Bob Chesney and while it hasn’t always been pretty, the team is still in a position to get itself back in the dance. That’s a pretty remarkable accomplishment give the current landscape of college football as a whole. Most importantly, being in this position should give younger guys an entirely new boost of confidence knowing that even through their growing pains, they’ve been able to help carry this team along for another ride.

“It’s very important,” said Chesney on Tuesday morning. “We’re back home. It’ll be our final game at Fitton. You can slice it up a million different ways, we still might have more games, there just won’t be another one at home. I think it’s one of those moments where…I don’t want to say it comes full circle, but you have a chance to kind of correct a lot of wrongs, correct a lot of mistakes and do it one last time on your home field, on your campus where you’re going to spend all winter and all spring continuing to hone your skills. You want those memories and that last moment to be really positive so as you progress into the winter and spring, you leave it on a high note.

“I think that’s important for their growth and their success mentally over the offseason.”

Perhaps even more important for the younger players’ confidence is knowing they didn’t hold the veterans back from one more special ride, even with their struggles. Now, they key on Saturday will be to seize whatever moment is in front of them and not wait for it.

“It’s definitely important,” Chesney said. “It’s a big deal. They certainly bent, but never broke. Here you are in a moment where the season had a lot of bending going on, but not breaking. That’s what this game (against Georgetown) has to represent. We have to be ready…I’ve said before, to be ready we have to stay ready and then at the same point in time, if your number gets called you have to be able to do something with it and be revealed.

“We talked a lot with our team. You made a choice to be here, right? You made a choice to want to compete. You made a choice to want to go to a team that’s one of the best in the country playing against two FBS teams in a very tough out-of-conference schedule. You made that choice. Then, every day becomes the fight. So, you choose, you fight, and then at some point, there’s going to be a moment that shows up directly in front of you and a play that shows up in front of you and you have to take it. You choose, you fight and then you’ve got to take it. Those are the things we’ve been really talking to them about all last week and again this week coming up. They all made choices. They have fought very, very hard. Now, it’s a moment where they can’t wait and hope it shows up for them, they have to take it. That will be a big theme throughout our week.”

Holy Cross purposely waits to do its Senior Day ceremonies until after the game each year, no matter what the circumstances are, so all focus can be on the task at hand. Either way, this special class that has built the foundation will be honored following the Georgetown game and hopefully, they’re celebrating with a fifth straight league title too.

Regardless of how things play out, the fact this program was even in a position to win another championship speaks volumes about the culture and consistency Chesney has developed over the years.

“None of us intend to be done playing football yet,” he added. “Coach Gratuski sent me some numbers from the week…we’re moving weight in the weight room faster than we had. We were moving it 2% faster a couple years ago, now we’re at like 12%…we’re hitting top speeds on the field right now physically with those guys that we have out there. It’s one of those things where none of us want to be done yet. None of us are ready to be done yet.

“I always think of the clip of Flutie throwing the Hail Mary. After Bernie Kosar scores, they come back over, the camera pans over to Flutie and he buckles his chinstrap and gives a little nod. He’s ready. But, you go to the sideline and there’s guys sitting on the bench with their heads down like ‘this game’s over.’ They did not yet believe, but he did. In the end, they win that game and everybody believes. That’s what I said to our guys. Don’t be stuck in the senior line after the game, we win the game and we find out the other team lost. Don’t wait until then to believe. Let’s start believing now.”