Elizabeth City State faces its toughest test in years tonight when it takes on Central Arkansas. Not only will the Vikings be far away from home, they will be playing on just four days rest, fresh off a 15 1/2-hour bus ride and facing a Football Championship Subdivision opponent for the first time since 2005.

Despite encountering long odds versus a team with nearly three times the amount of scholarship players, the Vikings (1-0) have goals heading into the game that are far beyond just getting a pay check for being willing to play there and coming home healthy.

“It’s a great test for us,” ECSU coach Waverly Tillar said. “Both teams I’m sure will bring their ‘A’ game and I think the competition level, if nothing else, will definitely propel us into the rest of the season.”

But, that paycheck and some other perks that go along with it are part of the reason ECSU took this game when Central Arkansas came calling.

“One was to get outside the box to play a superior team and kind of let the guys feel where they are as a team and how well they can play and see some things we need to work on or improve,” Tillar said.

“The second thing is to get some exposure for the university and the program. To move it out west, hopefully some eyes will be upon us. Especially if we represent well, maybe we’ll get invited to one of those big-time bowls down the road. Those two things work hand-in-hand and it’s a win-win situation for us.”

Coming off Saturday’s 45-27 thumping of Johnson C. Smith, the Vikings are getting back to game action quickly, which made for a different week of practice.

“With that quick turnaround, you have be strategic with how you practice,” Tillar said. “We pretty much fine-tuned some things. A little extra running and not too much banging. Injury-wise, we came out of the game with Johnson C. Smith pretty good, so we fell pretty healthy going into Central Arkansas.”

Tonight, the Vikings go against a team that is just finished with a reclassification period as it transitioned to Division I. Central Arkansas, in its first season as a full-fledged FCS member, is playing its first game of the season and has several question marks on the offensive side of the ball.

Junior quarterback Nathan Dick, a transfer from the University of Arkansas, is entering his first year as a starter and the team lost its top two runners from 2009 to graduation. Jackie Hinton Jr. is the Bears’ leading returning rusher with just 127 yards last season, but true freshman Marcel Threat, who coach Clint Conque describes as a “Barry Sanders type,” is expected to see a lot of touches.

The defensive leader is end Markell Carter, who has been named a preseason second-team All-American by both the College Sporting News and The Sports Network. Carter had 47 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2009.

After tonight, ECSU will have a 16-day layoff until its next game, against Fayetteville State in the Down East Vikings Class in Rocky Mount on Sept. 18.