First place in Conference USA's East Division will once again be on the line when East Carolina and Southern Mississippi play today.
For the Golden Eagles, there's even more at stake — their spot in the BCS standings.
The winner between Southern Miss (7-1, 3-1) and ECU (4-4, 3-1) will have the top spot in the division all to itself and will have the inside track to a spot in next month's league championship game.
"I think, in life as a whole, if you're able to control your own situation, you're OK," coach Ruffin McNeill of East Carolina said. "We just have to stay focused and stay within the moment. We have to enjoy the journey and understand that we're making progress. We're not there yet, though.... We know what's at stake."
Southern Miss has made itself quite comfortable at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium over the years, winning 15 of 18 matchups there. But the Golden Eagles' last visit was one to forget, with the Pirates winning 25-20 two years ago to give them the East Division title and second straight berth in the title game.
What coach Larry Fedora doesn't want is for his team to get caught up in its No. 25 BCS ranking — especially since Southern Miss has never played in the C-USA title game since the league went to a divisional format in 2005.
"I don't know if you can guard against it. You continue to do things the same way," he said. "You continue to coach the same way. And, it has to be important enough to the players … that goal they have set in their minds that they can see. It gets bigger and bigger as the year goes on that it has to be worth everything that you're doing.
"It takes tremendous commitment and discipline to be able to stay focused on the goal and not all the obstacles that are all around it. All the people patting you on the back, the people telling you (that) there is going to be a letdown, all the things that are going to come up. It's tough to stay focused on that goal. That's our job as coaches to keep them focused on that goal."
The Pirates are chasing their first three-game winning streak against Southern Miss, and their 12th consecutive win at home against an East Division opponent. East Carolina is looking for its first four-game regular-season winning streak since 2006.
"It has been a tough series, year in and year out," said McNeill, who as an East Carolina player matched up against Southern Mississippi greats Sammy Winder and Reggie Collier.
"Last year was a head-banging game down there," he added. "We know we'll have another one of those this season here. It'll be a very physical football game. We know we have a lot of things at stake in this game, just like they do."
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