BATON ROUGE — The first LSU-Southern University football game is closer to happening than ever, and is even closer than the distance between the two colleges, which is only nine miles.

Try September 2022 to be exact.

"The magic will be happening with a formal announcement in maybe three or five days and no more than two weeks," Southern athletic director Roman Banks said Thursday. "It's safe to say that it's going to happen. We're looking at the first three weekends of September of 2022."

More:How much will LSU pay Utah State for Saturday's game? Here's the contract

Banks has been in discussions recently with LSU deputy athletic director Verge Ausberry, who handles scheduling for the football program.

"Verge and I really have been more intense about it the last six months," Banks said.

More LSU:On Sept. 29, 1979, Tiger Stadium held one of loudest, greatest games ever

Ausberry had no other comment other than "still looking into" this week, but LSU new athletic director Scott Woodward was much more open.

"We are excited about getting the game on the schedule for the first time," Woodward said Thursday night. "It will be great for this community to come together to celebrate these two historic Baton Rouge universities."

LSU's only game on the schedule for 2022 at the moment is New Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 10. Sept. 3, 17, 24 and 31 are open, though a Southeastern Conference game could fall into one of those spots.

"Once we cross the T's and dot the I's, it will happen," Banks said.

Southern, which is in the lesser Football Championship Series division of colleges, is expected to receive in the neighborhood of $500,000 for the game from LSU, Banks said.

That would be similar to other figures received by Southern for playing other schools of the upper Football Bowl Subdivision like LSU recently. Texas Christian University paid Southern $500,000, Banks said, for a Sept. 1 game last year in Fort Worth, Texas, that the Jaguars lost, 55-7.

LSU Tigers:Ja'Marr Chase has put offense in another gear

Southern got $350,000 apiece for games at New Mexico in 2012, at Houston in 2013 and at Louisiana Tech in 2015. Georgia paid Southern $750,000 for a game in Athens, Georgia, in 2015 that the Bulldogs won 48-6.

LSU has scheduled more and more in-state schools in recent years. This was mainly due to the efforts of former athletic director Skip Bertman, who held the office from 2001-08. He preferred to pay the nearby schools less money than what it took to bring in schools from far away, and playing the in-state schools kept the money in Louisiana.

The Tigers have played every in-state school but Southern, Grambling and Nicholls State, which is on the schedule next season on Oct. 3. LSU played Louisiana Tech and Southeastern Louisiana in 2018, Louisiana-Monroe in 2003, 2010, and 2014, McNeese State in 2010, the Ragin' Cajuns in 2009, and Northwestern State in 2011 and this season.

Southern, meanwhile, has played McNeese this season, Louisiana Tech last season and in 2015, ULM and Tulane in 2016, the Cajuns in 2014 and Northwestern State at Southern in 2014 and in 2013 at Northwestern State.

"This will be an historic game," Banks said. "Both schools are in the same city. Other lower division teams that LSU has brought in have a lot of empty seats. That won't happen with this game. Our fans will be going. I believe there won't be enough space for tailgating. Both schools are known for the best tailgating."

Tigers This Week:LSU's defense will be tested Saturday by quick offense of Utah State

Banks said the food aspect of the game may be of interest to the Food Network with possible tailgating contests.

"This will be great for Baton Rouge," he said. "It will bring this city together. This game will have a large imprint. It will stimulate the economy. I don't think there will be a ticket available."

And the world-renowned Southern band that has performed at Super Bowls will appear in Tiger Stadium along with the Golden Band from Tigerland.

"Man, that's going to be a show," LSU associate athletic director Robert Munson said.

"The Human Jukebox will be in full force," Banks said. "No one will be in the neighborhoods of Baton Rouge because they'll all be at the game."