McNeese (6-2, 5-1 SLC) at Southeastern Louisiana (3-6, 3-4 SLC)
Rankings: McNeese - 11 STATS, 12 AFCA Coaches; SLU – NR
Where: Hammond, La.
Stadium:  Strawberry Stadium (7,408)
Time: 2:30 p.m.
TV: Cox Sports TV/ESPN3
Radio: McNeese Radio Network
Live Stats: McNeeseSports.com
Twitter: @McNeeseFootball
Series: McNeese leads 24-19
Game Notes: McNeese, SLU
 
HAMMOND – McNeese will look to take one step closer towards a Southland Conference championship when it visits Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.
 
Kickoff is set for 2:30 at SLU's Strawberry Stadium. The game will be televised live on Cox Sports TV (Suddenlink 42 in Lake Charles) and also on ESPN3 outside of the CST viewing area.
 
McNeese (6-2, 5-1 SLC) is coming off a slugfest against Central Arkansas in a 23-21 win to recapture sole possession of first place. The victory vaulted the Cowboys up to No. 11 (STATS) and 12 (AFCA) in the two main national FCS polls.
 
SLU (3-6, 3-4) fell 28-25 at Sam Houston State after rallying from a 28-10 fourth quarter deficit.
 
"Southeastern always plays us well," said head coach Lance Guidry. "It's going to be a tough game, I do know that."
 
McNeese won last year's game by a 13-3 score in Lake Charles but the Cowboys have not beaten SLU in Hammond since a 13-10 last-second win in 2010, a streak of three-straight losses in the Lions' den.
 
"We don't look at things like that," said Guidry. "There's maybe 20 percent of the players on the team now that are with us now that was on the team last time we played there."
 
That last time was a heartbreaker when the Lions scored on the final play to win the game, an 81-yard catch and run after a McNeese defender tipped the pass and it fell right into the hands of the Lions' receiver in strike.
 
SLU is led on offense by its quarterback, Chason Virgil, and wide receiver Juwan Petit-Frere. Virgil is ranked No. 3 in the FCS with 2,679 passing yards on the season while Petit-Frere tops is a returning All-American and tops the team with 40 catches for 678 yards.
 
"They (SLU) have a wide receiver (Juwan Petite-Frere) that's really dynamic and some really big wide receivers as well," said Guidry. "We're going to have to get some pressure on the quarterback, but it all starts up front, stopping the run.
 
 
GAMEDAY NOTES
 
Cowboys vs. Lions
• Saturday's game will be the 44th meeting between the two schools in a series that began back in 1951.
• McNeese leads the all-time series by a 24-19 margin and 9-6 since SLU revived the football program for the 2003 season.
• The home team has won this contest the last four years.
• McNeese has not won at Southeastern Louisiana since the 2010 season when kicker Josh Lewis connected on a 52-yard field goal as time expired to give the Cowboys a 13-10 win.
• In 2016 at SLU, the Lions scored on an 82-yard tipped pass with 8 seconds to play to win 31-24.
• In 2009, McNeese scored with 39 seconds to play to pull out a 36-35 come-from-behind win in Lake Charles.
 
Burton, Raborn named SLC Players of the Week
• McNeese cornerback Colby Burton and kicker Gunnar Raborn were named this week's SLC Defenisive and Special Teams Players of the Week respectively.
• Blunt intercepted two passes in Saturday's 23-21 win over UCA, both coming in the first half.
• Raborn scored 11 points on the night, going 3-3 on FGs and 2-2 on PATs.
 
Cody Orgeron get first Career Start; Leads Cowboys to win over UCA
• McNeese sophomore quarterback Cody Orgeron led the Cowboys to a 23-21 win over Central Arkansas in his first career start on Saturday.
• He guided the Cowboys to touchdowns on their first two drives of the game, the second being a 16-yard, up the middle run, for his first-career rushing TD.
• He's the first QB since Daniel Sams in 2014 to drive the team to a TD in its first possession in his first McNeese start.
 
Cowboys Climb in Polls after Victory over UCA
• McNeese moved up three spots in the STATS FCS Media Poll to No. 11 and four spots in the AFCA Coaches Poll to No. 12 this week after defeating Central Arkansas 23-21 on Saturday.
• It's the 17th consecutive week McNeese has been ranked in the top 25, dating back to last season.
 
Alex Kjellsten Breaks Single-Game Average Record
• Senior punter Alex Kjellsten had the best punting night of his career against UCA on Saturday night, breaking a 37-year old record for punting average when he booted 6 punts for a 51.7 avg.
• That broke the previous record held by Don Stump of 51.6 yards which was set in 1981 against Louisiana Tech.
• The Lake Charles native is currently averaging 44.5 yards per punt, ranking him No. 1 in the Southland Conference and 6th nationally.
• His net punting average is 40.2 (1st in SLC, 6th FCS).
• He's currently sitting with a career mark of 42.1which would place him as the school's all-time record holder while his 44.5 season average would set a new school single-season mark.