Coming off a bye week, Louisiana football will be back in action facing an in-state opponent Tulane on Saturday.

The Cajuns (2-0) spent the past week preparing for an already battle-tested Tulane squad that recently dropped its Week 3 game against No. 15 Oklahoma 34-19. The Green Wave (1-2) will travel to Cajun Field for a battle for the boot matchup that will be nationally broadcast on ESPNU.

“For us, there’s no doubt this is gonna be the toughest challenge that we face in three games,” UL football head coach Michael Desormeaux said. “It’s a really good football team. They play really good defense, they’re physical, they’re aggressive, and on offense, they have really good playmakers.”

With game week upon us, here’s everything you need to know about UL football’s Week 4 opponent.

Fighting for the spotlight

Despite being just two hours away from each other, UL football and Tulane aren’t necessarily in-state rivals as the teams haven’t played each other a ton in the past few years. Saturday’s game will mark the first meeting in Lafayette between the two since 2012. It’ll be the third meeting under Desormeaux.

“We played them twice since I've been coaching here, and they got us both times,” Desormeuax said. “So, I mean, for us, it's an opportunity to get to go play them again. They've been in the national spotlight as far as a Group of 5 goes and that's where we want to be. If you want to be there, then you got to go beat those teams.”

The Green Wave may have had the upper hand in past meetings but the weapons they’ve used to get wins are no stranger to Desormeaux and his staff. They typically recruit the same kids in the greater Louisiana area, including Tulane’s senior wide receiver Donte Fleming.

Fleming is a key target in the Green Wave’s offense that is led by redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah. In three games, the 6-foot-3 slinger has thrown for 713 yards and five touchdowns. Against the Sooners and with the ground game stagnant, he did all he could, ending the game with 166 yards passing and a touchdown. UL football will be looking to neutralize him and limit his scrambling as he has shown he can also get yardage with his legs.

“I think it's a great test for our defense,” Desormeaux said. “It's not just a running team, it's not just a throwing team, they’re gonna mix it up and they're gonna play both. We're gonna have to play with really good discipline, but also be physical at the point of attack.”

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Well rested Cajuns

After Week 1, the Cajuns were a bit banged up and played without some key guys on the offensive line and in the backfield against Kennesaw State. The bye week allowed their injured guys to recover and be back just in time to face the Green Wave. Starting offensive linemen Bryant Williams and redshirt junior running back Dre’lyn Washington will make their returns.

“We got to address some of the injury issues and that's just a part of the game,” Desormeaux said. “Good news for us is King (McGowen) played really well for us against Kennesaw State on O-line and he’s been practicing at a really high level. So getting Bryant and King back kinda puts back to ground zero a little bit, which is a good thing.”

The Cajuns will need their big bodies in the trenches to show up against a Tulane defense that has veterans leading it. Senior linebacker Tyler Grubbs is one of those defensive leaders standing at 6-foot-2 and 235 pounds. He has a sack, interception and 15 total tackles so far this season.

Offensively, the Cajuns' ground game will look to pick up where it left off after rushing for 260 yards. With Washington back, their running back room is complete and will need to get established against Tulane, which allowed the Sooners to rush for close to 200 yards and three touchdowns last week.

“We got an extra week of practice to work on things that we needed to work on and fix if we want to win the next game and continue to play better,” Desormeaux said. “It allowed us to focus back on us and get the work done that we needed. This is gonna be a good challenge for us and we’re excited and it’s a measuring stick.”

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: What to know about UL football's Week 4 matchup vs. Tulane