The scoreboard and stat sheets could get a workout when Southern Mississippi travels travels to Western Kentucky for Saturday’s Conference USA’s championship showdown between the league’s most explosive offenses.

    The Hilltoppers (10-2, 8-0 C-USA) lead the league in scoring at 44.2 points per contest, just ahead of the Golden Eagles’ 41.7 average. Southern Miss (9-3, 7-1) has the edge in yardage at nearly 535 per game, nearly 15 more than WKU (520.1).

    That’s only the beginning for these mirror-image schools.

    The game also is a matchup if strong-armed quarterbacks in WKU senior Brandon Doughty and USM counterpart Nick Mullens, who have combined for 8,148 yards and 77 touchdowns.

    Add in two of C-USA’s top defenses and it’s no wonder Hilltoppers coach Jeff Brohm downplays having home-field advantage — even though his team is 5-0 at Houchens-Smith Stadium this season. Host teams are 7-3 in the championship game.

    “I feel we’re very evenly matched,” said Brohm, whose team ran the table in the East division to earn its first title-game appearance in just its second year as a league member.

    Of the Golden Eagles, the coach added, “they’ve been playing outstanding on defense. They’ve blown out a lot of teams, so they know how to win.”

    Indeed, routs were common for USM during its six-game winning streak that clinched the West division title. The Golden Eagles have outscored opponents by an average margin of 48-16 during the run that keyed a six-game turnaround in league play from last season, one short of the C-USA record.

    A league-leading defense allowing 351 yards per game has helped along with a focus to stay the course after a 3-3 start. But USM faces a WKU team with similar strengths, and coach Todd Monken knows something must give.

    “We’re going to have to play our best this week,” said Monken, whose team is playing for its sixth league title and first since 2011. “The stats bear that out, it’s not just coach talk. … We will expect their best and they can expect ours.”