Gary Goff hopes he found the guy to lead his offense.

Clifton McDowell, who began the year playing for a FCS national championship has found a new home to finish out his football career.

McDowell became the newest member of the McNeese State quarterback club Saturday when he signed to play his final season of football for the Cowboys.

Just three months ago McDowell was leading Montana to the FCS national championship game, guiding the Grizzlies to a 13-2 season. He finished 11-1 as a starter at Montana and was named the Big Sky Conference’s Newcomer of the Year.  McDowell’s dream of winning the title came up short when Montana lost to South Dakota State in the title game, 23-3. He then went on a journey through the transfer portal that saw him first head to FBS Temple before finally ending up at McNeese.

“We are very excited about this,” said Goff, who enters his third season as the Cowboy head coach. “He is a very talented player I think a great fit. He is a proven winner he has done.” 

While there are no guarantees in today’s world of college athletics until McDowell shows up on campus, he announced his commitment on social media Saturday. He also signed some of the paperwork making his commitment that much stronger to McNeese.

The 6-foot-4, 224-pounder McDowell picked Temple over Western Kentucky after the title game but went back into the portal soon after.

The Spring, Texas native started his career just down the road at Louisiana-Lafayette in the fall of 2019, but threw just one pass for the Cajuns, completing it for eight yards.

He then left for two seasons at Kilgore Community College in Texas before spending one season at former Southland Conference member Central Arkansas in 2022.

While at UCA, McDowell was 10 of 21 for 115 yards and two touchdowns along with a pair of interceptions. He also ran for 132 yards on 18 carries and another two TDs.

But it was at Montana last fall where he found his game. 

After taking over the starting job, McDowell completed 160 passes in 274 attempts for 2,926 yards. He had 13 TD passes to four interceptions, good for a 133.2 rating. 

McDowell also ran for 753 yards on 169 carries, scoring nine touchdowns. 

McDowell will battle two others for the starting job, including redshirt freshman Kamden Sixkiller, who started the final two games last season.

Sixkiller has battled injuries to his shoulders and legs since coming to McNeese. Also in the mix is junior college transfer Alex Flores, who had a solid but not spectacular spring camp.

Flores came to McNeese from Mount San Antonio College in Walnut, California, where 

He threw for 1,844 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. In three games last fall Sixkiller was 44 of 82 for 585 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions.

Last year’s opening game starter Nate Glantz entered the transfer portal just before the end of spring workouts in late March.

“We have three very good quarterbacks right now and all will benefit from the competition,” said Goff. “He will also make our defense better.”

McDowell was highly sought-after out of high school. He was rated as a three-star prospect by 247Sports, ranking as the No. 34 dual-threat quarterback in the Class of 2019.