FRISCO, Texas - Nicholls State University senior cornerback Chika Madu was named Southland Defensive Player of the Week and junior punter Cory Kemps earned Southland Special Teams Player of the Week, announced the conference office on Monday morning.

Madu was responsible for two of Western Michigan's four turnovers in the Colonels' loss on Saturday against the Broncos. The senior from Norman, Okla. forced one fumble and scored the Colonels' lone touchdown on a 36-yard interception.

Trailing 21-0 in the second quarter, Madu stripped the ball from Western Michigan's top receiver Jordan White, batted it to himself and returned it 36 yards for his first career touchdown.

On WMU's second offensive play following halftime, Madu jarred the football loose from Bronco wide receiver Robert Arnheim, and teammate Shawn Elrod recovered the fumble for the Colonels at the WMU 43.

Madu recorded four tackles (two solo) in the game and helped hold the Bronco offense to under 200 yards passing. Madu also moved into ninth place on the Colonels' all-time kick return list with 913 career yards, trailing the eighth spot by only one yard (Sullivan Beard '00) and the seventh spot by three (Brian Stropolo '86).

Against Western Michigan in his second career game for the Colonels, Kemps, a junior college All-American, punted eight times for a total of 353 yards to average 44.1 yards per punt.

Three of Kemps' punts landed inside the 20-yard line, with his only touchback landing on the 5 before sneaking past a Colonel player and into the end zone. The junior from Carmel, Ind. also had three punts of more than 50 yards, including a 56-yarder to tie his season best.

After two games, Kemps is averaging 45.4 yards per punt, ranking ninth in the FCS. He has recorded five punts inside the 20 and five longer than 50 yards. 

The Colonels return to action on Saturday, Sept. 17 against in-state rival, Louisiana-Lafayette. Kickoff at ULL is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.