HUNTSVILLE, Texas – McNeese football will close out its most unprecedented season in school history on Saturday when the Cowboys visit 5^th-ranked Sam Houston in the final game of the spring season.
 
Kick-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Sam Houston's Bowers Stadium. The game will air live on ESPN+ as well as the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 The Lake and 929thelake.com).
 
McNeese (3-3, 2-3 SLC) is coming off an impressive 43-31 win over then-No. 11 Nicholls in the team's final home game of the season last Saturday and marking the second consecutive win while the Bearkats defeated Northwestern State 24-16.
 
COWBOYS VISIT BEARKATS TO CLOSE OUT SPRING SEASON
• McNeese will close out the spring season on Saturday afternoon at Sam Houston.
• The Cowboys have won two straight games.
• McNeese isn't far from being 5-1 with a 25-20 loss at SLU and a 27-26 ot loss to Lamar.
 
SERIES VS. SAM HOUSTON
• Saturday's game will be the 41st meeting between McNeese and Sam Houston with the Cowboys holding a 27-12-1 advantage in the all-time series that began back in 1951.
• As Southland Conference opponents, McNeese leads the series 21-10.
• SHSU has won the last three meetings.
• The Bearkats have won the last three meetings in the series, including a 34-29 win over the Cowboys in the 2nd round of the FCS playoffs in 2015 in Cowboy Stadium.
• 21 of the 30 previous matchups has seen at least one team ranked in the FCS top 25 polls.
• The two teams have met three times with one of the squads ranked No. 1 in the nation (McNeese in 1995, W 20-0 and 2003, W 56-37; SHSU in 2016, L 56-43)
 
ORGERON, CHAMBERS NAMED SLC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK; ORGERON EARNS CSM NATIONAL HONORS
• McNeese's Cody Orgeron and Isaiah Chambers are the Southland Football Players of the Week, Orgeron offensive and Chambers defensive.
• In addition, Orgeron was named National Offensive Player of the Week by College Sports Madness and Louisiana Offensive Player of the Week.
• It's both players' second weekly award of the season.
• Orgeron completed 20-of-27 passes while setting or tying career-highs in yards (354) and touchdowns (four) in McNeese's win over the No. 11 Colonels. He threw touchdown passes of four, 13, 28 and 85 yards, tying for the fourth-longest touchdown passing play in school history. Orgeron became the ninth player in school history to eclipse 4,000 career passing yards (4,303).
• Chambers set up camp in the Colonel backfield, finishing with two sacks and four quarterback hits as McNeese held the nation's top scoring offense to 22 points below its season average. Facing a first-and-goal from their own nine-yard line, he pushed Nicholls back to the 15 with his first sack. Chambers' second came in the final period, bringing Lindsey Scott Jr. down to set up a 3rd-and-26. He finished the contest with seven tackles and recorded a pass-breakup.
 
PASSING GAME REVVING UP
• Through the first four games of the season, the Cowboys' passing game threw for 609 yards on 55 of 103 passing for 53 percent, 3 TDs and 3 interceptions
• In the last two games, the Cowboys have thrown for 660 yards on 37 of 49 passing for 76 percent, 6 TDs and no interceptions.
• McNeese had zero receivers with 100-yard games through the first four and have had three in the last two.
 
CHAMBERS CONTINUES TO DOMINATE ON DEFENSE
• Houston transfer DE Isaiah Chambers continues to flex his dominance as of late.
• Over the last three games, hes recorded six sacks and 10 tackles for a loss, including five sacks over the last two outings.
• For the season, he leads the team and Southland Conference with 12.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks.
• He's also recorded nine quarterback hurries.
 
PIERCE HAS BREAKOUT GAME
• Sophomore wide receiver/returner Mason Pierce had his best game as a Cowboy against Nicholls where he rolled up 206 all-purpose yards (107 receiving, 85 kick return, 14 rushing).
• Pierce recorded his first career 100-yard receiving game after he caught 5 passes for 107.
• Included in those 107 was an 85-yard catch and run for a touchdown, ranking as the 4th-longest passing score in school history.
 
WR BEGUE MOVES UP ON CAREER LISTS
• With 6 catches for 94 yards against Nicholls in his last outing, senior WR Trevor Begue has moved into a tied for 11th on the school's career receptions list with 99 catches and has climbed to No. 15 in receiving yards with 1,410.
• He's tied for 5th all-time with 15 receiving TDs.
 
ORGERON SURPASSES 4K YARDS 
• Quarter Cody Orgeron became the ninth QB in school history to throw for 4,000 yards in a career after his 354 yards against Nicholls topped him off at 4,303 in his career and ranked him 9th all-time in school history.
• In addition, he's thrown 35 career touchdowns, ranking him tied for 6th all-time and is four shy of breaking into the top five.
• He's thrown for 300 yards or more in back-to-back games for the first time in his career with the 354 vs. Nicholls being a career high.
• Four times in his career he's thrown for at least 300 yards.
• In the season opener, he rushed for a career-high 108 yards at Tarleton in the season opener, becoming the first McNeese QB to break the century mark rushing since Daniel Sams in Nov. of 2015.