Musso and Bishop to participate in Aztec Bowl

Wheaton, Ill. (11/30) - Two members of the Wheaton Thunder football program will participate in the 2004 Aztec Bowl on December 11 in Cancun, Mexico. Wide receiver Brad Musso has been selected to play for the American Football Coaches Association's (AFCA) Division III all-star team that will represent the United States against the Mexican National Team in the 2004 Aztec Bowl. Joining Musso will be Wheaton 's offensive coordinator J.R. Bishop, who will serve as a member of the coaching staff for the United States all-star squad.

This is the third consecutive year that a Thunder player has participated in the Aztec Bowl. All-American offensive lineman James Hoxworth was a participant on the 2003 U.S. team and All-American linebacker Justin Knapp played in the 2002 game, setting the Aztec Bowl record for tackles. Musso is one of 42 NCAA Division III seniors from around the country who will make up this year's team.

Musso, a four-time All-CCIW selection for the Thunder, caught a school-record 98 passes for 1,293 yards and nine touchdowns this season. Musso finished the season second in Division III in receptions per game with 8.9 catches per game and was fourth in the nation in receiving yards per game with 117.5 yards per contest. In his four seasons at Wheaton Musso caught a school-record 255 passes for 4,287 yards, the fifth-highest career receiving yardage total in Division III history. He has 39 career touchdowns with 236 points, the third-best career total in Wheaton 's history.

Bishop will join former Division III head coaches Jim Christopherson (Concordia-Moorhead), Bill Manlove (Widener, Delaware Valley), Bob Packard (Baldwin-Wallace) and Wally Hood (Ohio Northern and Otterbein) as assistants on the staff that was selected by U.S. Head Coach Ron Schipper. This is the eighth consecutive year that Schipper, the former head coach at Central College (Iowa), is coaching the U.S. team.

Bishop is making his second coaching appearance on the Aztec Bowl coaching staff. He served as an assistant coach on the first U.S. team in 1997 in Toluca. He completed his 23rd year at Wheaton in 2004, his ninth as offensive coordinator. As Wheaton 's head coach from 1982-95 Bishop guided the program to a record of 84-43-1.

This year's game is scheduled to kick off at 4 PM CST on December 11 at Estadio Cancun 86 in Cancun. The Aztec Bowl is the traditional season-ending game for Mexico 's college football season. The game has been played 33 times since 1947 with the last seven contests featuring the United States-Mexico match-up. The United States is 6-1 in the series. Mexico 's lone victory came in last year's game, which was also played in Cancun.

The game will be webcast on December 11 and can be accessed via the AFCA's website at www.afca.com and via the Aztec Bowl website at www.aztecbowl.com. The same two websites will also provide 90-minute preview shows on December 8, 9 and 10. The preview shows will originate from the Team USA hotel and will begin each night at 6:30 PM CST.