LSU can change defensive coordinators, perhaps, but the Tigers apparently can’t rattle head coach Brian Kelly’s confidence.

The No. 13 Tigers open the season Sunday night against No. 23 Southern Cal, out there amidst the neon and glitter of Las Vegas.

The whole nation could be watching on ABC as, taking advantage of the lull before the NFL opens next weekend, it’s the only game scheduled for Sunday.

The Tigers will be trying to break a streak of four consecutive losses in season openers, dating to the 2019 national championship year.

The last two disappointing starts were under Kelly, both at the hands of Florida State.

Last year Kelly caught flack in advance of the 45-24 loss to the Seminoles in Orlando, Florida, when he said, “We’re going to beat the heck out of Florida State.”

Only the teams have changed.

Thursday, on his weekly radio show, Kelly said of LSU’s August workouts, “We had a great foundation, really three weeks of great work that puts us,” — bulletin board alert! — “in a great position now to go beat the pants off of USC.”

Social media, of course, fairly well exploded.

Kelly, however, is no stranger to Southern Cal, a team LSU has played twice, most recently in a 23-3 victory in 1984 in Los Angeles.

Kelly went 8-3 against the Trojans while coaching in the annual rivalry at Notre Dame, including the last four.

But if Kelly is to be remembered as a better prognosticator this time, it will have to happen with new playmakers.

Both teams go into the game having to replace Heisman Trophy winners at quarterback — USC’s 2022 winner Caleb Williams, the first pick in last spring’s NFL draft, and LSU’s Jayden Daniels, the 2023 winner, the second pick in the same draft.

The Tigers also have to replace a pair of first-round picks at wide receiver, Malik Nabers and Brian Thomas.

“It’s time to talk about the guys we do have,” Kelly said Monday.

Both teams got a sneak peak of the future when the two most recent Heisman winners opted out of their bowl games last year. And both LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier and USC’s Miller Moss were the MVPs of those games.

Moss threw for six touchdowns against Louisville, while Nussmeier threw for three, including one to cap the 98-yard winning drive in the final minute against Wisconsin.

Both are rarities in the NCAA transfer portal era — fourth-year juniors who patiently waited their turns behind flashier starters.

“Having a quarterback that has been in the system and knows what it looks like and what an SEC battle is like, those things make you feel a little more at ease going into these games,” Kelly said of Nussmeier, a Lake Charles native who went to high school in the Dallas area.

“He’s been in big games, he’s started games, he’s played four quarters so there’s a better sense of what’s to come … but we’ve still got to play a little more football.”

A bigger question might be LSU’s defense. In fact, both defenses will be trying to fix leaky seasons of a year ago.

“We’ve got to limit some of the big plays,” Kelly said.

It was LSU’s biggest defensive problem a year ago and flashy offensive plays have always been the calling card of USC head coach Lincoln Riley.

“It’s predicated on attacking, playing fast, an offense that has certainly been prolific in the time he has run it,” Riley said.