It's been a rough year for Rutgers fans.
It didn't get any easier Saturday.
The Scarlet Knights put together their best performance of the season, but it still wasn't enough as Northwestern rallied for an 18-15 win over Rutgers on Homecoming at HighPoint.com Stadium in Piscataway.
The loss was Rutgers' seventh straight.
The close loss was a welcomed change after Rutgers had been blown out most weeks during the losing skid, and some fans surely will take that as a moral victory.
But when fans arrived early Saturday before the game to tailgate, they didn't know the team would put up a fight.