If misery truly loves company, then the Cowboys will find plenty of friends when they travel to Hammond today.

There they will find a team struggling through an unexpectedly tough season just like themselves when they take on Southeastern Louisiana at Strawberry Stadium.

Both McNeese State and the Lions find themselves 1-7 and 1-3 in the Southland Conference. Their lone win has come against Northwestern State, which the Cowboys beat by a forfeit last week when the Demons canceled their season.

“It has been a very strange year,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “I didn’t see this coming for either of us.”

Southeastern was picked in the preseason by league coaches and sports information directors to win the SLC after being a co-champ last season. McNeese was expected to have a rebound year.

None of that is close to what happened as both teams instead find themselves playing out the string instead of thinking about the postseason.

Still, the game is important for both teams as they are true rivals.

“They want to beat us and we want to beat them,” said Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo. “We recruit a lot of the same kids, the kids know each other, so they will play hard.”

For the Cowboys, they have to finish the game. Goff said McNeese has played well at times, especially in the first half of games. The second half has been a problem. McNeese has been outscored 140-34 after intermissions.

“We have to finish,” Goff said. “We have to go out there and play hard for four quarters and end the game the right way.”

One problem facing the Cowboys is perhaps too much time off. McNeese will be playing its second game in a month when it takes the field for the 3 p.m. kickoff, meaning it has to reboot its season once again.

“That is a concern we haven’t played in two weeks,” Goff said. “We have had a very good week of practice and need to carry it over.”

If the Cowboys are going to have a chance they must slow down the Lions’ running game, Goff said. McNeese allows a league-worst 240 yards per game on the ground and almost 37 points a game.

“We have to stop the run,” he said. “We start with that every week. Southeastern does a good job running the football.”

Quarterback Zach Clement, a transfer from Northwestern State, leads the Lions in rushing with 260 yards and is followed by Harlan Dixon at 252. But Clement is one of three quarterbacks likely to play against the Cowboys.

Eli Sawyer is the passing leaders with 1,368 yards and six touchdowns. Clement has thrown for six TDs and 761 yards. The two have combine to throw nine interceptions.

McNeese will counter with walk-on sophomore Ryan Roberts, who will making his second consecutive start after replacing Nate Glantz. Roberts was 17 of 30 for 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his start against Incarnate Word the last time the Cowboys played on Oct. 21.

“We will go with Ryan, he has earned it,” Goff said. “We will see how he does and go from there.”

Goff also said he wants to get in true freshman Kamden Sixkiller who has yet to play. Finding a spot for him to get his first college experience will depend on how the game is going, Goff said.

One player who was lost for the rest of the season is sophomore running back Colbey Hamm. The transfer who started his career at Air Force had season-ending surgery this week after rushing for 168 yards on 22 carries and two scores.

One guy who the extra week off helped was D’Angelo Durham, who is recovering from an injury. Durham leads the Cowboys in rushing with 382 yards on 76 attempts.

Joshon Barbie, a redshirt freshman who had a breakout game against UIW, will back him up, Goff said. Barbie has gained 145 yards in two games.

McNeese will have to watch defensive end Arlen Williams if it wants to keep Roberts upright. Williams leads SLU in sacks with five.

Goff said the Cowboys are going to need to find balance on offense to keep pace and control the game, especially in the second half.