LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will kick off its 83^rd season of football on Saturday night at 6 p.m. in Navarre Stadium with the return of Hall of Fame head coach Matt Viator walking the sidelines for the first time in 10 seasons.
 
GAME OVERVIEW:
Location: Lake Charles, La.
Stadium: Navarre Stadium (20,000)
Time: 6:00 p.m.
TV: ESPN+ (Link) – Jeff Palermo (PxP), Chaston Tavares (Analyst), Rylee Eyster (Sideline)
Radio: 92.9 The Lake and 929thelake.com (Link) – Tom Hoefer (PxP), Mark Young (Analyst)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast (Link)
Media Hub (Link)
Tickets (Link)
 
• The Cowboys are 25-9 all-time in Navarre Stadium when starting the season at home.
• Head coach Matt Viator is 9-0 when playing the first game of the season in Navarre Stadium, 6-3 in season openers, 6-0 vs. non-FBS teams in season openers, and 4-0 when starting the season at home.
• Since 2000, McNeese is 8-2 in season openers at home but has lost the last two - vs. West Florida in 2021 and vs. Tarleton State in 2023.
• 38-3 against non-D1 opponents since becoming Division 1 in 1972 and two of those losses came against regular season opponent West Texas State in 1976 and 1981... the only other non-D1 loss came in the 2021 opener against D2 No. 1 West Florida.
 
RUNNING IT BACK - COACHING LEGEND RETURNS:
• Matt Viator was named McNeese's 19th head coach back in December, returning to his "home" in an attempt to revive a program that excelled under his leadership from 2006-2015.
• During his previous stint, Viator compiled a record of 78-33, matching him with legendary head coach Bobby Keasler for the most wins in school history.
• Viator never had a losing season in those 10 years and since his departure, McNeese has produced four winning seasons in the last nine seasons and none since 2019.
• During his previous time as head coach, the Cowboys won four Southland Conference championships and finished second or higher seven times.
• McNeese has not finished above 3rd place since his departure and has placed 5th or lower in six straight seasons.
• His teams ranked in the FCS Top 25 national polls in 91 out of a possible 110 weeks and received votes in all but two weeks.
• Viator's teams at McNeese ranked in the Top 10 in 42 weeks and the Top 5 a total of 12 weeks with the highest ranking coming in at No. 2 in the final two weeks of the 2015 season.
• Viator's 54 Southland Conference victories is a league record while his .750 winning percentage in league games (54-18) is ranked 4th all-time.
• His 78 overall wins while coaching the Cowboys are tied as the 3rd-most in conference history and is five wins away from matching Sam Goodwin (NSU, 1987-99) for second all-time.
• Viator has compiled a 42-10 record at home in regular season games.
• 15-2 non-conference record at home in the regular season.
 
SERIES VS. LOUISIANA CHRISTIAN     
• Saturday will mark the 20th meeting between McNeese and LCU and the first since the 1966 contest and first since McNeese became a Division 1 program.
• McNeese holds a 17-2 lead in the series and is 1-0 in Navarre Stadium against the Wildcats.
 
HOME SWEET HOME                          
• McNeese will be gunning for its 225th all-time win in Navarre Stadium on Saturday night.
• Now in its 61st season of playing in "The Hole", McNeese has compiled an overall record of 224-107-5 which includes a 105-36 record against non-conference opponents.
 
OPERATING PRESS BOX FIRST TIME SINCE 2019     
• McNeese will have a fully operational press box for the first time since the 2019 season.
• In 2020, Hurricane Laura destroyed the previous structure which had to be torn down due to the damage.
• The new press box is three levels and cost $32 million.
• Included on the first level will be the media, radio and television booths, coaches booths, film deck and operations.
• The second and third levels contain 26 luxury suites which are all equipped with televisions, refrigerators, sinks and some of the best seating in the stadium.
• Also on the 2nd level is the Nutrl Zone, which is an open area that will be used for socializing before games and during halftime.
 
WELCOME TO NAVARRE STADIUM    
• For the first time in history, McNeese secured a naming right's contract to rename Cowboy Stadium to Navarre Stadium.
• Local businessman and long-time McNeese supporter Ryan Navarre inked a $5 million deal over a 10-year span, the largest naming rights deal in the history of McNeese and believed to be the largest in Southland Conference history.