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Wrigley Field all dressed up for Big Ten football

The monthlong transformation is all but complete.

One hundred purple and white flags bearing Northwestern's “N” logo are whipping in the wind atop Wrigley Field's roof.

The iconic marquee at the corner of Clark and Addison? For perhaps the first time the sign's trademark red paint gets an off-season after work crews applied two coats of “Wildcat Purple” on Monday.

Inside the landmark stadium, all of the dirt has been covered with grass and the field painted and prepped for its first football game since 1970 and first college game since 1938.

And did we mention ESPN's College GameDay crew will set up in the nearby McDonald's parking lot for Saturday's Northwestern-Illinois game, which allows the marquee (and the eight massive NU-related photos surrounding it) to serve as the backdrop for the nationally televised event?

“It's going to be a spectacular atmosphere,” said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. “It's going to be a lot of fun. But all of those things are kind of icing on the cake.

“This is a big game because this is two in-state schools that have the utmost respect for each other. It's a rivalry game.”

All that's left is to hope everyone who plays for the Land of Lincoln trophy emerges unscathed.

In order to shoehorn the 120-yard field in the space between the right-field wall and the third-base dugout, there are tight fits in several places.

Much of the back of the east end zone, for example, is less than two feet from the right-field bricks.

To cushion the potential blow for, say, a receiver running full speed through the end zone, there's a temporary six-inch-thick pad in place.

“I might need to go look at that,” said Northwestern wide receiver Demetrius Fields with a laugh Monday. “We trust in each other to not put us into situations to be killed or whatever, so …”

Before Northwestern and the Cubs signed the deal for the Allstate Wrigleyville Classic, Fitzgerald and Illinois coach Ron Zook inspected Wrigley Field in July 2009.

“We both looked at each other and said, ‘Yeah, we're both for it as long as the health, safety and well-being of the players is the No. 1 priority,'” Fitzgerald said.

“So then it got turned over to the universities and they were the ones that made the decisions. If you think back, it took some time for everything, I think, the t's to get crossed and the i's to get dotted.

“So I think both universities felt great about it from a risk-management standpoint. I think it's definitely going to be an element in the game, but we'll plan accordingly.”

Most of Northwestern's players will take the “L” from Evanston to the Addison stop Saturday. They'll wear coats and ties on the train, then change in the Cubs' clubhouse.

Illinois will have the visitors' clubhouse under the first-base stands. The Illini's 70 players must share 40 cubicles in a room that's a tight fit when it's just 25 baseball players and their coaches.

Northwestern will block off Sheffield Avenue from Waveland to Addison on Saturday for fan-friendly “Wildcat Way.”

As for the ballhawks who normally congregate on Waveland for Cubs games? They'll want to move to Sheffield because there won't be a net behind the east uprights.

Field goals and extra points likely will fly into the street and Northwestern's footballs will bear the event's logo and be used only for this game.

“The vision two years ago, 18 months ago, was to create a bowl game during the season,” said Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips. “And take a bowl game right here in this wonderful city, the best city in the world.

“With all the activities we have this week, it really does feel like a bowl game.”

Wrigley Field is ready to go for SaturdayÂ’s Big Ten game between Northwestern and Illinois. It will be the first college football game played at Wrigley Field since 1938. Associated Press