Almost three months ago, McNeese State beat Western Kentucky 38-13 in Lake Charles. Today, the same two teams meet here for the NCAA Division I-AA national championship.
The burning question is, have the Hilltoppers improved enough to beat McNeese this time?
"We have improved, I promise you that,'' WKU coach Jack Harbaugh said. "How much? Come see the game (today) and we'll find out.''
WKU (11-3) has won nine straight since losing to McNeese, including back-to-back 31-28 wins over Western Illinois and Georgia Southern, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.
"It doesn't surprise me to see them here,'' McNeese head coach Tommy Tate said. "We knew they had a fine football team.''
McNeese (13-1), has been the nation's top-ranked team the last five weeks, but has won three close home games in the playoffs.
"People see the close games and they wonder if McNeese is as good as they were when they played us,'' Harbaugh said. "I'm here to tell you, they are just as good. They are the same team.
"If there is one difference, it's that now they are No. 1 and they've been walking around with a big target on their backs.''
There may be one difference with McNeese today. Tate said running back Vick King, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year, is doubtful for today's game with a bruised knee suffered last week.
"It's not something that's going to require surgery,'' Tate said. "But if he can't go, we aren't going to play him.''
If he can't play then Jacob Prim and Marcus Trahan will share the load.
"It won't change anything,'' McNeese quarterback Scott Pendarvis said. "We have a lot of confidence in Marcus and Jacob.''
The Cowboys were hitting on all cylinders offensively when they won the first meeting, scoring on their first three possessions. Recently, however, McNeese has been having to come from behind in games.
"We have to get off to a fast start again,'' Pendarvis said. "That will be a key. The last two games we've played offenses that throw the ball and don't keep it long. This week, we'll play a team that will hold the ball with a lead with their ball-control offense.''
Also, a key in the first meeting on Sept. 28 was the play of McNeese receiver B.J. Sams, who put up 316 all-purpose yards, getting big yards with kickoff and punt returns, in addition to receiving and rushing yards.
"We've been good on special teams in every game except for the McNeese game,'' Harbaugh said. "That was an aberration, we hope.''
Another thin that has changed since the first meeting has been the play of the Western Kentucky offense. When they left Lake Charles, the Hilltoppers had not scored more than 13 points in a game against a Division I opponent through four games.
In the last two weeks, the 'Toppers have put up big numbers against the nation's Nos. 2 and 3 teams.
"We are a different team from the first time we played them,'' said WKU quarterback Jason Michael said. "We put a lot of it on our offensive line, where we had experience coming back.''
The WKU line is big, although somewhat injury-riddled. Harbaugh said injured starting right tackle Buster Ashley has a "good chance" of playing today. The prognosis is not as good for right guard Derek Forster, who is listed as questionable.
Still, McNeese players had good things to say about the physical nature of the Hilltoppers.
"They are big and they are good on the offensive line,'' McNeese linebacker Roderick Royal said. "They are probably the most physical team we've played. I definitely have a lot of respect for them.''
Harbaugh said revenge for the earlier loss is not a factor, and his players agreed.
"Neither team is going to be afraid of the other,'' WKU linebacker Sherrod Coates said. "We just have to come out and play.''
The burning question is, have the Hilltoppers improved enough to beat McNeese this time?
"We have improved, I promise you that,'' WKU coach Jack Harbaugh said. "How much? Come see the game (today) and we'll find out.''
WKU (11-3) has won nine straight since losing to McNeese, including back-to-back 31-28 wins over Western Illinois and Georgia Southern, the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds.
"It doesn't surprise me to see them here,'' McNeese head coach Tommy Tate said. "We knew they had a fine football team.''
McNeese (13-1), has been the nation's top-ranked team the last five weeks, but has won three close home games in the playoffs.
"People see the close games and they wonder if McNeese is as good as they were when they played us,'' Harbaugh said. "I'm here to tell you, they are just as good. They are the same team.
"If there is one difference, it's that now they are No. 1 and they've been walking around with a big target on their backs.''
There may be one difference with McNeese today. Tate said running back Vick King, the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Year, is doubtful for today's game with a bruised knee suffered last week.
"It's not something that's going to require surgery,'' Tate said. "But if he can't go, we aren't going to play him.''
If he can't play then Jacob Prim and Marcus Trahan will share the load.
"It won't change anything,'' McNeese quarterback Scott Pendarvis said. "We have a lot of confidence in Marcus and Jacob.''
The Cowboys were hitting on all cylinders offensively when they won the first meeting, scoring on their first three possessions. Recently, however, McNeese has been having to come from behind in games.
"We have to get off to a fast start again,'' Pendarvis said. "That will be a key. The last two games we've played offenses that throw the ball and don't keep it long. This week, we'll play a team that will hold the ball with a lead with their ball-control offense.''
Also, a key in the first meeting on Sept. 28 was the play of McNeese receiver B.J. Sams, who put up 316 all-purpose yards, getting big yards with kickoff and punt returns, in addition to receiving and rushing yards.
"We've been good on special teams in every game except for the McNeese game,'' Harbaugh said. "That was an aberration, we hope.''
Another thin that has changed since the first meeting has been the play of the Western Kentucky offense. When they left Lake Charles, the Hilltoppers had not scored more than 13 points in a game against a Division I opponent through four games.
In the last two weeks, the 'Toppers have put up big numbers against the nation's Nos. 2 and 3 teams.
"We are a different team from the first time we played them,'' said WKU quarterback Jason Michael said. "We put a lot of it on our offensive line, where we had experience coming back.''
The WKU line is big, although somewhat injury-riddled. Harbaugh said injured starting right tackle Buster Ashley has a "good chance" of playing today. The prognosis is not as good for right guard Derek Forster, who is listed as questionable.
Still, McNeese players had good things to say about the physical nature of the Hilltoppers.
"They are big and they are good on the offensive line,'' McNeese linebacker Roderick Royal said. "They are probably the most physical team we've played. I definitely have a lot of respect for them.''
Harbaugh said revenge for the earlier loss is not a factor, and his players agreed.
"Neither team is going to be afraid of the other,'' WKU linebacker Sherrod Coates said. "We just have to come out and play.''
