McNeese State will  host Sam Houston State in one of the key Southland Conference football games going on Saturday.

      The No. 12 ranked Cowboys and the Bearkats have a 7 p.m. kickoff scheduled in Cowboy Stadium.

      At the present time there are four teams tied for the top spot in the league standings with 3-1 records and McNeese is one of the four. The other three are Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas State.

      None of the four play each other this week so all four could still be tied for the top spot following Saturday's games.  Other tilts have Southeastern Louisiana playing at Northwestern State, Texas State at Central Arkansas and SFA hosting Nicholls State.

      McNeese carries a 6-2 overall record while Sam  Houston is 4-4 overall and 2-2 in league play.  Common opponents of the two teams have been Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana, SFA and Northwestern State. Both teams beat Nicholls and Northwestern State while McNeese defeated Southeastern and the Bearkats lost and both teams bowed to SFA.

      The meeting between the two teams will be the 31^st in the series.  McNeese holds a 22-7-1 edge and is 11-3 at home against SHS.  The Cowboys have also won the last four meetings.

      Transfer quarterback Blake Joseph leads the Bearkat offense.  He's completed 121 of 207 passes for 1,734 yards and nine tds while running back James Aston has rushed for 566 yards and is leading the conference in all-purpose running.  Aston was injured in the Northwestern State game and his playing status for Saturday's game is to be determined.

      Senior four year starting quarterback Derrick Fourroux makes the Cowboys go and he's  on the verge of breaking all of the McNeese passing and total offense records.  This year he's completed 146 of 227 passes for 1,790 yards and 18 tds and he has also rushed for 394 yards and three touchdowns.

      During his career he's accounted for 88 touchdowns passing and rushing, only two shy of the record held by former standout Kerry Joseph.

      For the past few games the Cowboy running game has been handled by tailbacks Toddrick Pendland, Champlain Babin and Javaris Murray.  Pendland has been on the injured list and has played only briefly in the last two games.  He's expected to see more action on Saturday.  Pendland has rushed for 590 yards and nine touchdowns this season while Babin has rushed for 261 and Murray for 255.

      Tight ends Wes Mangan and Corday Clark have also been offensive standouts for McNeese this season.  Both have caught four td passes this year and Mangan has a career total of 12, a school record for tight ends.

      Defensively the Cowboys are led by safety Malcolm Bronson and tackle Desmund Lighten, the two leading tacklers on the squad.

      Tickets are still available for Saturday's game. To order tickets contact the McNeese Athletics ticket office at 337.562.4MSU, tickets@mcneese.edu or order your tickets online by clicking here.