Baton Rouge - The Southern Jaguars wrapped up their non-conference slate last weekend in a near shut out loss to Nicholls. That defeat was tough to swallow, but the mindset of the Jaguar program is to move forward and to the next game ahead.

The Jags are entering a long stretch of SWAC play for the remainder of the season. They will face Texas Southern on Saturday and compete for the top spot in the SWAC West.

The Jags defeated the Tigers a season ago in an overtime thriller. Kicker Joshua Griffin made a career long, 54 yard field goal to tie the game near the end of regulation. Running back Kendric Rhymes sealed the win for the Jags with a touchdown in overtime.

The Jags still have to face Alcorn, Florida A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Arkansas Pine-Bluff and Grambling to end the season. Their chances at a SWAC Championship are not out of reach, and head coach Terrence Graves has high expectations for his team heading into the rest of the season.

"Well, I expect to learn a lot about our team, because this is the this is the next game. You know, we're in SWAC play. So now every game that we play for here on out, the term is whether we will win the West and play for the championship. And I think our guys understand that, and they know that we can't do anything about those games that we've played. Those games are behind us. The conference is behind us. We always talk about being in precious present. So we're the precious present, and Texas Southern is the next opponent on our side. We gotta go on the road. We understand all those things. So you know, we're gonna step up, we're gonna prepare and we're gonna be ready for the challenge," Graves said.

Southern travels to Houston to take on Texas Southern Saturday at 6 p.m.