DENTON, Texas - Could this be the one?
Could today's game finally mark the turning point for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajun football team, one in which the Cajuns finally win a meaningful late-season road game?
Could the UL squad actually, no kidding, become a factor in the Sun Belt Conference race?
Or, are the last-second victories of the past two weeks just smoke and mirrors?
The Cajuns will either be contenders or pretenders when today's 6 p.m. league battle at four-time Sun Belt champion North Texas wraps up, and there won't be any gray area.
A victory puts UL (3-5, 2-2 Sun Belt) squarely into the conference picture with two games to go. A loss to the Mean Green (2-5, 2-1 Sun Belt) ends not only the hopes of league titles and postseason play, but also of the coveted winning season.
"Our kids know what this game means," said Cajun coach Rickey Bustle. "But we're not changing our approach. It's still one day at a time, one game at a time."
That approach has worked the last two weeks in wins at Middle Tennessee (13-10) and last week's Homecoming victory over Troy (31-28 in overtime). And if the numbers mean anything, the Cajuns could be on track for their first win over UNT since the Sun Belt began football wars in 2001.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com