Finally, the Cowboys return home.

After a winless October that saw McNeese State transition from contender to rebuilder, the Cowboys will play back in Lake Charles for the first time in six weeks.

In a homecoming long overdue, McNeese will return to Cowboy Stadium to try to end a three-game losing streak Saturday night.

McNeese will host Texas A&M-Commerce in a Southland Conference game. It is also the first Homecoming game in two years. Last year’s McNeese Homecoming was canceled by visiting Northwestern State after one of their players was shot and killed.

The game resulted in a forfeit, the Cowboys’ only victory of the season.

Now they hope to use this year’s big weekend to turn their season back around as McNeese (4-5, 1-3) tries to finish with a non-losing record for the first time since 2019.

“We still have a lot to play for,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “We want to finish strong.”

With three games to go McNeese could still match the seven wins of the 2019 season. The Cowboys haven’t won more than four games since.

“We want to win for the seniors,” said quarterback Kamden Sixkiller. “We want to give our seniors a strong sendoff.”

Sixkiller will be making his fourth start and third in a row. The redshirt freshman started two games last season as well. 

This will be his first start since taking over officially for injured Clifton McDowell. 

The Cowboys hope to use the excitement of their return home to refocus despite the distractions Homecoming week can bring.

“It’s fun to play in our home,” said cornerback Yusef Leak. “Our crowd is great. You don’t get that kind of crowd at other places in our league.”

The Cowboys are 3-0 this season at home.

“We want to keep that going,” Leak said.

The Lions should have McNeese’s full attention. They have beaten them the last two seasons, their first two years in the Southland as a Division I program. And the games haven’t been close.

Last year Commerce scored 27 points over 11 minutes in the third quarter to win 41-10 in Texas. The year before the Lions beat McNeese 40-15 using physical play in each game.

“They embarrassed us last year by being extremely physical and playing very hard,” said Goff. “We have to respect everybody. They are going to come in here and be ready to play.”

Commerce will try to pressure Sixkiller to test him on his 20th birthday. Nicholls sacked him four times last week and the Lions have posted 17 sacks on the season.

“They bring a lot of pressure,” said Goff. “They like to cause chaos. They will come at you from every direction.”

McNeese will try to run the ball with sophomore Joshon Barbie leading the way. He had his best game of the season against Nicholls, which was second in FCS in run defense heading into the game allowing just under 65 yards a game.

Barbie ran for 121 yards on just 13 carries, including a 69-yard TD run. 

With the return of Micah Davey, Boogsie Silvera, and a healthy Tristan Driggers, the McNeese defense has been improving. The Cowboys may be able to take advantage of some Lions’ miscues.

Commerce has turned the ball over 26 times and been sacked another 22 in eight games, helping to account for the 1-7, 1-2 record.