LSU will have next week off before the Southeastern Conference schedule begins.

But there’s still work to do for the No. 14 Tigers when they host South Alabama Saturday night.

“This is an important week for us as we continue to develop,” LSU head coach Brian Kelly said. “After next week’s bye week, it’s welcome to the SEC with seven games in eight weeks.”

There’s a lot on Kelly’s to-do list for the Tigers (3-1, 1-0 SEC) against the Jaguars (2-2) before conference play.

Beginning with South Alabama (2-2), which opened Sun Belt Conference play with an impressive 48-14 victory at Appalachian State.

“Really good football team,” Kelly said. “They’ve got 28 FBS transfer portal players on the roster, nine of them from SEC schools. It’s a team that has some really good football players.

“It’s a great challenge for us, (against) a team that’s coming in with nothing to lose, but certainly a team that is very capable in a lot of areas. Very athletic, outstanding in terms of their schemes, well coached.”

It will be the first meeting between the Tigers and Jaguars, who are coached by first-time head coach and Baton Rouge native, Major Applewhite. Applewhite played at Catholic High before a stint as quarterback for the Texas Longhorns (1998- 2001).

“It’s an exciting offense they have,” Kelly said. “They put up a lot of points up against Appalachian State.

It’s a team that beat Oklahoma State last year (when Applewhite was offensive coordinator). So we have a lot of respect for them.”

But it’s a game that’s probably more about getting the Tigers ready for their conference grind.

“We don’t talk about winning as much as playing to our level,” Kelly said. “We really haven’t played four quarters of the kind of football we think we’re capable of. That’s what’s more important for us, more than anything, really playing that kind of football. That’s what we’ve talked about.”

His said his biggest concern before SEC play is getting more consistency out of a defense that has been prone to giving up big plays, particularly in the secondary.

Secondary breakdowns and poor tackling have been major issues.

“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel back there,” he said. “We’re not in multiple coverages. We want out guys to utilize their athletic ability and do it with great fundamentals. If we do it with great fundamentals, we’re going to be better back there. That’s really been the focus this week.”

The Jaguars feature dual-threat quarterback Gio Lopez, who’s thrown for 843 yards and nine touchdowns while also rushing for 171 yards and two scores.

LSU has had to reshuffle its defense with the loss for the season of star linebacker Harold Perkins Jr. from a knee injury suffered last week against UCLA.

“Our players clearly understand in this game that you’re going to get injuries,” Kelly said. “We’re not going to lose our identity or fall apart.”