Fresh off of its thriller win over Wake Forest, Louisiana football is back on the road to kick off Sun Belt Conference play.

The Cajuns (3-1) will look to build off of their momentum after beating their first ACC opponent in program history, sneaking away with a 41-38 win over the Demon Deacons. For Week 6, they will travel to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, taking on a familiar foe in Southern Miss (1-3).

After finishing last year with a 3-5 conference record, head coach Michael Desormeuax and his staff want to start conference play on the right foot.

“If you lose one game in the Western Division, you're probably out,” Desormeaux said. “That's the way that it works. So this game is a conference championship type game for us, and that's the focus that we need.”

Skin in the game

Despite the Golden Eagles' lopsided record, they have had UL football’s number the past two times the squads have met. The Cajuns haven’t beaten them since 1993 and have a program history record of 42 losses and only 11 wins.

The drought continued in the Desormeaux era.

In 2022, they traveled to Southern Miss and lost 39-24. Last year, in the comforts of Cajun Field, the Western Division rivals went back and forth — pushing the game to overtime. Southern Miss came out on top, snatching the 34-31 win.

“Last year’s game is one that really, really ate at me since that game ended, it ate at this team,” Desormeaux said. “That was a tough one. So, yes, there’s that long history that our guys know about, but I think it’s hard to truly understand. But they've got some skin in the game with this one too.”

A win would break an over three-decade-long losing streak to the Golden Eagles and it would put UL football on the path for what it is hoping to accomplish this season.

“We want the conference championship again, that’s what we want,” Desormeaux said. “There's no bones about it. That's been what we've talked about since January.”

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Performing well after a big win

Getting past its first conference test will be crucial in a loaded SBC and fifth-year quarterback Ben Wooldridge will be the guy to help get them there. Wooldridge had a stellar outing against Wake Forest throwing for 257 yards and three touchdowns on about a 69% completion rate.

He also rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown playing a vital role in beating Wake Forest in a back-and-forth, shootout matchup. He earned himself recognition as one of the eight quarterbacks selected for the Manning Award Stars of the Week award this week announced on Monday.

“Ben's just gritty and tough,” Desormeaux said. “You know, he's got all the talent he needs, but his grittiness and his toughness are what is what wins and what keeps us in games.”

Along with Wooldridge, the Cajuns’ defense will look to lead them past Southern Miss. So far this season the defense hasn’t been stellar at stopping the run game and after four starters were ejected for targeting against Wake Forest, new guys will have to step up against the Golden Eagles.

Starters at safety and linebacker, Tyrone Lewis and K.C Ossai were ejected in the first half of the game — ruling them out for this week’s game. In the second half, linebacker Caleb Kibodi and cornerback Justin Agu were ejected for targeting. UL football is in the process of appealing Agu’s targeting call from the fourth quarter of the game.

“Agu’s targeting call, I mean I just don’t know what you’re supposed to do in a play like that,” Desormeaux said. “We're trying to figure out the process right now to try to get it appealed, particularly since it wasn't a league game and it wasn't our officials.”

The Golden Eagles ground game is led by running back Rodrigues "Dreke" Clark, who has rushed for 167 yards and a touchdown this season. Clark is still looking to have his breakout game this season and the Cajuns are hoping it won’t be in Week 6.

Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: UL football kicks off Sun Belt Conference play vs. Southern Miss