HATTIESBURG — Southern Miss renews one its oldest football rivalries this weekend when they travel to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech in a crucial Conference USA West Division matchup.

Game time is set for 6 p.m., from Joe Aillet Stadium and can be seen live locally on THIS TV (channel 219 on Comcast) as well as online at WatchStadium.com and on twitter (@WatchStadium). 

The Golden Eagles (4-2 overall, 2-1 C-USA) look for their third-straight victory when they meet the Bulldogs (3-3, 1-1), after beating UTSA and UTEP in the last two outings. Southern Miss has not won three consecutive games since winning six in a row during the 2015 campaign.

The series between the two schools spans 48 games, which ranks as the third longest series in Golden Eagle history behind only the number of the meetings with Memphis (63) and Louisiana-Lafayette (52). Southern Miss holds a 33-15 in the series and have won the last two meetings and nine of the last 12.

This Saturday’s affair marks the fifth between the schools as C-USA foes, with each team winning twice.

Golden Eagle senior running back Ito Smith has enjoyed solid contests against the Bulldogs in each of the last two seasons.

In Ruston in 2015, the Mobile, Ala., native rushed for 169 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns on three consecutive offensive plays to help the visiting Golden Eagles pull away with a 58-24 decision and the league’s West Division title.

Last season, Smith collected 127 rushing and 63 receiving yards as Southern Miss captured a 39-24 victory over the Bulldogs in the final game of the regular season, giving the Golden Eagles bowl eligibility.

Over the last two games with LA Tech, Smith has notch a total of 400 all-purpose yards as he gets closer to 4,000-yards rushing and 6,000-yards for all-purpose. In 45 career games, Smith holds 3,856 yards on the ground and 5,576 all-purpose

While Louisiana Tech comes off an open week, the Golden Eagles are fresh off their second shutout of an opponent this season, a 24-0 blanking of UTEP, which marked the first time since 1999 that the program has registered a pair of shutouts in the same season.

Following the LA Tech game, the Golden Eagles return home to face UAB next Saturday, Oct. 28.