In the mind of UL coach Michael Desormeaux, the proper focus for his Ragin' Cajuns ahead of the 4 p.m. Saturday game at Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg revolves around motivation.

The Golden Eagles are just 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Sun Belt play, but this is their homecoming and they would like nothing more than to derail UL's league title hopes.

"This is a rivalry game," Desormeaux said. "It doesn't matter what your record is when you play these games. You better show up and you better be ready.

"Coach (Blake) Anderson's a really good football coach. He's going to have his team ready. They're still playing really  hard."

On the other hand, UL (5-2, 2-1) can achieve so much with a win. A sixth win makes the Cajuns bowl eligible before November, and it will keep them in the hunt for the Sun Belt West crown.

"We've got to want it more than they do," said Desormeaux, who knows UL is 2-24 in Hattiesburg. "I told the team in practice, collectively, how many hours have gone into the work this year with everyone in our group? All of that work is for this. We owe it to ourselves to try to capitalize on it."

As a 10-point favorite, the best thing the Cajuns can do to avoid an upset is run the football effectively. Southern Miss is dead last in the Sun Belt in run defense and UL is coming off a 243-yard rushing performance against Troy.

"We've got to be able to run the ball in those situations,” Desormeaux said. "We're at our best when we're mixing in the run with the pass. Everything comes off the run for us, all of our play actions and our nakeds, all of that stuff."

JJ Garner (44-252, 4 TDs) led the charge last week with plenty of help from Anthony Reagan (53-224, 3 TDs) and Steven Blanco (54-210, 4 TDs).

The other way to prevent an upset is to win the special teams battle. In last week's 23-13 loss at Arkansas State, Southern Miss averaged 15 yards a punt return and 24 a kickoff return.

"We've got to play fast and we've got to play physical," UL special teams coach Mike Giuliani said. "We've also got to play with our technique. They're a little different on the return game for sure, and they found some success in the return game against Arkansas State. They're feeling good about it and rightfully so."

For UL, Ja'Corian Norris will return after missing two weeks with a concussion and hopes to break his first long kickoff return of the season.

"We're close, man," Giuliani said. "I didn't want it to take seven weeks for us to hit a big one. We've had some that are close."

The most dangerous matchup for the Cajuns is the Southern Miss passing game, if the Cajuns can't get a pass rush. The Eagles utilize a hurry-up offense more than most teams. Louisiana Tech gave UL problems with that strategy earlier this month.

"I feel like we've adjusted well," cornerback Brent Gordon said of defending the hurry-up offense. "We've watched the film and we know what we needed to work on and we've been improving off that."

Southern Miss quarterback Landry Lyddy has thrown for 1,032 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions at a 60.1% completion clip.

His top target is Mario Sanders (34-492, 5 TDs), along with AJ Little (17-271, 1 TD). By comparison, UL doesn't have a receiver with more than 226 yards.

"I think he's getting the ball where it needs to go," Giuliani said of Lyddy. "I think he anticipates well."

Said Desormeaux: "You've got to get your eyes on the right spot and you've got to play with discipline. It's a challenge. We don't tempo much, but they do a good job with it."

The UL defense has nine sacks on the season while the Eagles have allowed 11.

"I think when you can affect the quarterback with your front in a four-man rush and you can get back there and you're always in his face, he's never comfortable," Desormeaux said. "I think that leads to not just turnovers but it also can lead to erratic quarterback play, which is what you're trying to do."