Plenty of heft in Southern Miss-Louisiana Tech matchup

Jason Munz | Southern Miss Sports Writer

It’s dubbed the “Rivalry In Dixie.”

But today’s Southern Miss-Louisiana Tech football game will carry far more weight than ever before.

The winner will finish in first place in Conference USA’s West Division and earn itself a spot in the Conference USA Championship next week. The Golden Eagles and Bulldogs are currently tied for first place in the West with identical 8-3 overall records and 6-1 marks within league play.

“It’s going to be a challenge for us,” Southern Miss head coach Todd Monken said. “This is what you play for. If you give yourself enough of these opportunities, you’re going to break through. And this is a big chance for us.”

While there’s plenty of weight on the line when the teams meet at 11 a.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana, more still will be added as a result of the many common threads and underlying storylines the Golden Eagles and Bulldogs share. One of which is two-fold, as one of Monken’s first coaching gigs in college was as a graduate assistant under Lou Holtz at Notre Dame, when Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz was the Fighting Irish’s receivers coach. In addition, he spent two years as an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech in 2000 and 2001.

“It’s interesting, because I learned so much being (at Notre Dame) under coach Holtz,” Monken said. “My first year, I was with the running backs and my second year I was with the secondary. I improved in those two years as a coach, being around (Skip Holtz) and his father than any other time in my career.

“But it’s funny how 20-something years later, all the sudden (Skip and I) are in the same league and coaching against each other.”

Southern Miss senior Jalen Richard, who last week became the first Golden Eagle running back to top the 1,000-yard mark since 2009, is anxious to go up against Bulldog running back Kenneth Dixon. Richard, an Alexandria, Louisiana, native, received an offer from Louisiana Tech out of high school, but the Bulldogs signed Dixon.

It worked out for Richard as well as Louisiana Tech, as Dixon has rewritten the Bulldogs’ record book and is on the verge of doing the same for the NCAA. His 81 career touchdowns are third to Navy’s Keenan Reynolds (82) and former Wisconsin running back Montee Ball’s 83.

“It’s crazy because Kenneth and I were roommates at Ole Miss’ camp when we were coming out of high school,” said Richard, who is third in C-USA (behind Old Dominion’s Ray Lawry and Dixon) in rushing yards per game (95.2). “And it’s crazy because he was there as a linebacker and now he’s a (potential NFL) draft pick.

“Whenever we play them, you can feel it, like, ‘OK, Louisiana Tech comes ready to play when they play Southern Miss,’ and, ‘Southern Miss comes ready to play when they play Louisiana Tech.’ It should be a great atmosphere.”

Southern Miss running backs coach John Simon is a former Bulldog star, who helped lead them to a Western Athletic Conference title in 2001.

“It’s always a different feeling to go back to the place where you played,” Simon said. “But it’s exciting to have the team we have now going back and knowing you’re playing for something. You embrace it. It’s exciting to go out and put it all out on the table.”

The contest will be televised by Fox Sports Network – Comcast channel 97 in the Hattiesburg-area market.