HATTIESBURG — The Southern Miss football team takes to the road this weekend for its first Conference USA road trip of 2018 with a Saturday showdown against North Texas at 1 p.m., from Apogee Stadium.

The Golden Eagles (2-2, 1-0 C-USA) and Mean Green (5-1, 1-1) can be seen on ESPN3.

For third-year Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson, the mantra this season was for the Golden Eagles to try and get better as a football team each and every week.

“I said that earlier in the year with a new quarterback, young receivers and young running backs,” Hopson said. “We’re seeing it midseason. We’re a football team that we have to get better and better. I like this football team. We’re talented and we haven’t even come close to playing our best football yet.”

This will be the 13th meeting between the two schools with each institution garnering six wins in a series that dates back to the 1954 season. The Mean Green overcame a 21-7 deficit in last year’s contest to collect a 43-28 decision at The Rock, winning their second game in a row in the series.

Still, the Golden Eagles have captured five of the previous eight games between the two schools and Southern Miss last won over North Texas, 30-20, in 2014 at Denton.

Two of the better offenses in the league will meet in this contest with Golden Eagle signal caller Jack Abraham facing UNT’s Mason Fine, the 2017 C-USA Offensive Player of the Year.

Abraham enters the weekend as the No. 2 quarterback in passing average per game (315.8) and total offense (304.8). Abraham also ranks No. 2 in passing efficiency (158.5), one spot ahead of Fine (155.2).

Fine leads the top scoring (41.5 points per game) and total offensive team (483.0 yards per game) and individually leads C-USA in passing average per game (319.7) and total offense per game (314.8).

 The Golden Eagles also sport the best defense in the league, allowing just 289 yards per game and ranking No. 8 in the Football Bowl Subdivision.