Five home games, including two in the month of September, highlight the Linfield Wildcats’ 2011 football schedule, announced by head coach Joseph Smith.

The two-time defending Northwest Conference champions open the nine-game season Sept. 10 against a familiar foe in Cal Lutheran. The Kingmen and Wildcats split their two meetings last season with CLU winning the season opener at Thousand Oaks, Calif., and the Wildcats taking the rematch in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs at Linfield’s Maxwell Field.

After facing La Verne on Sept. 24, the conference portion of the schedule begins with a road game at Willamette on Oct. 1. Linfield hosts Puget Sound in its annual Homecoming game Oct. 8, then visits NWC upstart Pacific on Oct. 15.

Pacific Lutheran, which went 8-1 last season and narrowly missed being selected for the NCAA playoffs, comes to McMinnville for a rivalry game in the midst of Family Weekend on Oct. 22.

The ‘Cats then prepare for a pair of long road trips. Linfield heads to the Bay Area Oct. 29 for a nonconference tilt with Menlo, then must visit Whitworth on Nov. 5.

The regular season concludes Nov. 12 at home against Lewis & Clark in the annual AT&T Hall of Fame Game.

Linfield is coming off a successful 2010 campaign during which the Wildcats won nine of 11 games while posting an unblemished 6-0 NWC record. The Wildcats will be seeking their 56th consecutive winning season.