NEW ORLEANS — Three straight 9-4 seasons, none of them easy.

Three straight New Orleans Bowl victories, all in the Big Easy.

A whole lot of University of Louisiana fans will feel they got their best present of the year over the weekend.

The Ragin’ Cajun football team beat Tulane 24-21 in the New Orleans Bowl late Saturday night in front of a bowl-record 54,728 at the Superdome, an overwhelming majority of them Cajun supporters in UL-style red. They made the 135-mile trek from Acadiana for a third straight year.