While this is no time to panic, there is a need for urgency Saturday night inside Cowboy Stadium.

After coming close last weekend in the season opener, McNeese State gets a shot to finish what it started at Tarleton State when the Cowboys host Southern in the home opener. It’s the start of the 60th season of Cowboy Stadium.

For the Jaguars, this will be their first game while McNeese’s late rally fell short against the No. 21 Texans, 26-23. Kickoff for the game is set for 7 p.m.

Now the Cowboys want to fix the mistakes that led to a slow start and end an 11-game on-the-field losing streak. The Cowboys think they are close.

“It’s been a long time coming with this group of guys, we’re going to get some wins and when we get that first one, we’re going to be sailing from there,” said defensive end Masey Lewis. “I’m excited to get back in ‘The Hole’ and get a win for our fans.”

A big crowd is expected if the weather cooperates, as Southern will bring its famous band to the game. The last time the Jaguars were here an official record crowd of 20,437 watched as the Cowboys won 34-28 to open the 2019 season.

McNeese officials expect to have the largest crowd since Hurricane Laura in 2020 when the Jaguars return. The Cowboys are 3-0 all-time against Southern.

“Talking with some of our coaches who have played there, they say it’s tough,” said Southern head coach Terrence Graves. “The atmosphere, the crowd, the heat. All those those things make it tough.”

Graves, who served as the interim for one game last year at Southern, takes over the program in full now. He brought in 36 new players, much like McNeese which has 59 newcomers on the roster.

For McNeese; it is more about themselves. They have to clean up the little mistakes that led to big trouble at Tarleton. 

“We have to win the turnover battle,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. 

That may be doubly important if it rains. 

“The turnovers are what beat us a Tarleton,” Goff added. “We worked hard this week to clean that up. We understand that.”

McNeese turned the ball over four times in the first half against the Texans, leading to 12 Tarleton points. The Cowboys were down 26-7 at halftime before rallying.

“We have to be ready to play from the start,” said Goff. “We can’t let Tarleton beat us twice.”

With 36 newcomers on the roster, Southern is a big unknown, though eight Jaguar starters return on offense and six on defense. That includes defensive end Ckelby Givens, the Southwestern Athletic Conference preseason Defensive Player of the Year selection. 

The junior finished last season with seven sacks and 21 tackles for loss. 

“You have to game plan for him,” said Goff. “He can wreak havoc. We have to know where he is all the time.”

McNeese has an improved defense that came up with three sacks last week, one-third the total the Cowboys had last season. The offense also looked better, with a pair of long passes for touchdowns, one of 80 yards from quarterback Clifton McDowell to Matt McCallister and the other a 43-yarder to freshman Jamaal Levi.

In all, McNeese had 14 plays of 10 yards or more, eight of those coming by way of the run. The Cowboys also had five plays of 20 or more yards, all by way of passing.

McDowell was 14 of 20 for 245 yards. He ran for another 67 giving 312 yards of total offense in his first game as a Cowboy.

That was just 27 yards showy of what the McNeese defense allowed all day. 

“We are much improved,” Lewis said. “We have got guys who can make plays all over the field this year.”

The Cowboys hope that this week they make enough plays at the end to get in the win column.