Jordan Perkins of Lodi, Calif., a three-star rated running back according to Rivals.com, is scheduled to make an official visit to Northwestern late next week, Perkins' father, Curtis said Thursday. Curtis Perkins said NU is Jordan's No. 1 college choice.

But here's what makes Perkins' story interesting:

Jordan Perkins orally committed to Stanford in April. Since then, coach Jim Harbaugh left to coach the San Francisco 49ers. And the Stanford admissions office is telling Perkins he won't know if he's admitted to the school until Jan. 28 when he was originally told he'd know by December. National signing day for football is Feb. 2.

"We don't want him to be left out in the cold," Curtis Perkins said.

Which makes Perkins' visit to Evanston all the more important.

Curtis Perkins also said that NU running backs coach Matt McPherson is flying out to Lodi to see Jordan on Friday.

The Wildcats are in need of help in the backfield for 2011 -- maybe more so than usual. Sophomore running back Arby Fields transferred from NU in December and back Scott Concannon decided not to come back for a fifth year, opting to graduate in June. And superback Aaron Nagel, a former Lemont star, is also opting to graduate and not take a fifth year.

If Perkins commits, he would join Adonis Smith, Mike Trumpy and Jacob Schmidt in the rotation of running backs for the Wildcats in 2011.