The biggest week of the University of Louisiana's football season got under way in its usual manner Sunday evening, and that's how Rickey Bustle wanted it.

The Ragin' Cajun coach put his charges through a 90-minute workout under the Cajun Field lights Sunday as the squad opened its game-week preparation for Saturday's season finale at UL Monroe.

And even though Saturday's 2:30 p.m. contest will determine the Sun Belt Conference championship and possibly the Cajuns' postseason fate, Bustle said it was business as usual.

"We didn't talk about the game much at all," Bustle said. "We talked about tonight's practice, working hard in period one, moving on to period two. We're going to have a normal week of practice ... that's the way we've done it to get here."

Where the Cajuns (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt) are is one win away from no worse than a share of their first-ever Sun Belt title. A win at ULM's Malone Stadium and a loss by Arkansas State at North Texas puts UL into the New Orleans Bowl, while a ULM victory gives Saturday's hosts the title and the bowl berth.

UL had an open date last weekend, one that gave the Cajuns a jump-start on preparing for the Indians. The Cajun squad worked out three days last week before taking off Friday and Saturday.

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com