Southern Miss, TCU to decide C-USA title

By By Tony Krausz / assistant sports editor
Nov. 17, 2003
HATTIESBURG It really is as simple as the sticker that representatives from the University of Southern Mississippi athletic department handed out after Saturday's game say Two teams, TCU vs. USM, one championship, 11/20/03.
The Golden Eagles's 28-14 win over Tulane at M.M. Roberts Stadium in front of 26,987, coupled with TCU's 43-10 blowout victory against Cincinnati, has set one of the most important games to be played at "The Rock" in years.
When the undefeated Horned Frogs (10-0, 7-0 Conference USA) and the Eagles (7-3, 6-0 C-USA) meet on Thursday, the conference champion will essentially be crowned.
TCU, which will come into Roberts Stadium ranked 10th in the country, is attempting to crash the BCS party by going undefeated for only the second time in school history. The last Horned Frogs squad to pull of that feat was in 1938, when quarterback Davey O'Brien led TCU to its only national championship.
USM is gunning for its first C-USA title since 1999 and to erase the bad memories of blowout losses to California and Nebraska earlier this season.
Though both squads will have one more game left in the season after Thursday, the winner will almost be certain to win the conference title. TCU will end the regular season against winless SMU, and USM will take on East Carolina on Nov. 29.
One of the main reasons I came back was to win a championship,'' said senior linebacker Rod Davis, who became the school's career leader in tackles with 12 against Tulane. We have a great opportunity in front of us. I have not had this opportunity since I have been here, where we hold our destiny in our hands.''
The stakes will be high when these two conference powers clash, and the cameras will be watching.
The Eagles and Horned Frogs will most likely play in front of a filled stadium, and they will have the ever watchful eyes of ESPN broadcasting the game across the country.
As if that wasn't enough, the contest's tension will be heightened as both teams will play on short rest.
Because of the television cameras stalking the sideline at the match up, the Eagles and Horned Frogs have to make a quick turn around following their latest wins.
USM hit the practice field on Sunday, as did TCU.
If you want to have a chance to win a championship, you have to understand the boundaries,'' TCU coach Gary Patterson told reporters after his team's win on Saturday. We just got done with Saturday, today is Monday. We skipped a day.''
One team's big-time bowl chances on the line, another team looking for its first title in four years, national television, a short week, this game really doesn't need anything else to juice it up.
Yet, just like any big contest there is one more thing to keep the competitive fires burning bright, USM will be playing for redemption.
Since TCU entered the C-USA two years ago, the Horned Frogs knocked the Eagles out of a bowl game with a 14-12 win in 2001, and TCU blasted USM last year 37-7 in front of another national television audience.