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FACTS & STATS: Site: Roberts Stadium (33,000) -- Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Television:None. Home Record: UCF 1-0, USM 1-0. Away Record: UCF 0-0, USM 0-0. Neutral Record: UCF 0-0, USM 0-0. Conference Record: UCF 0-0, USM 0-0. Series Record: Southern Mississippi leads, 3-1.

GAME NOTES: Conference USA play begins for two programs in Hattiesburg this weekend, as the UCF Knights tussle with the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at Roberts Stadium.

The Knights were less than impressive in their opener last weekend and barely escaped with a 28-24 victory over Samford, a FCS program. The win improved the team to 4-1 in season openers under head coach George O'Leary, but UCF didn't look like a club that was ready to improve upon its 4-8 finish from a year ago.

As for USM, it too hosted a FCS program in its opener, only it posted a much more convincing 52-0 victory over Alcorn State last weekend. It was the first shutout since 2006 for the Eagles, who won their 11th consecutive home opener. Head coach Larry Fedora guided USM to a bowl game in his first year at the helm in 2008 and that was due in large part to a late run that included five straight wins to end the campaign.

The Eagles are considered contenders for the C-USA title this year, and they have had success versus UCF, going 3-1 all-time, including a 17-6 triumph in Orlando last season.

The Knights ranked last in the nation in offense last season and they didn't seem all that improved in the opener against Samford. The team managed only 282 yards of total offense and needed a fourth quarter touchdown pass from Brett Hodges to escape with the victory. Hodges, making his first career appearance as a Knight after transferring from Wake Forest, completed 10-of-17 pass attempts for 129 yards with the one touchdown and interception. It was a solid debut for Hodges, who replaced ineffective starter Rob Calabrese. Rocky Ross was the main outlet with five receptions for 85 yards and he also had 91 yards on six punt returns. It was a nice return for Ross, who missed most of last season with an injury. The star of the opener though, was tailback Brynn Harvey, as he rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns on 31 totes. The 100- yard effort was the second in Harvey's career and big things are expected from the sophomore after he rushed for 519 yards as a rookie in 2008.

UCF's strength was its defense last year and the same figures to be true in 2009. In the opener, the Knights limited Samford to 286 total yards, including only 78 rushing, and the unit stepped up and shut out the Bulldogs in a crucial fourth quarter. The defense allowed Samford to convert just 4-of-15 third downs, but did fail to create a turnover and recorded only one sack. Lawrence Young paced the defense with eight stops, including three TFLs, while Darin Baldwin added seven stops and three PBUs. Young stepped into a starting due to injuries last season and emerged as one of the top players on the defense, posting 72 tackles and 10.5 TFLs, and he is appears to ready to lead the unit in 2009.

The Eagles did what they were expected to do in the opener and that is dominate. One of the more explosive offenses in C-USA, USM rolled up 631 total yards, including 398 on the ground, in the rout of Alcorn State last weekend. Quarterback Austin Davis threw for 217 yards and three touchdowns, in addition to rushing for 36 yards and another score. It was a terrific start for Davis, who is ready to be a star after setting freshman passing records last season with 3,128 yards and 23 touchdowns. DeAndre Brown, a rookie himself in 2008, emerged as Davis' top threat with 1,117 receiving yards and 12 scores, but he was unavailable for the opener. The freshman All-American, who is listed as questionable for this weekend, fractured his leg badly in the bowl game last season and underwent surgery to repair the damages and has been brought back with caution. In the backfield, veteran Damion Fletcher continued to churn out the yards, rushing for 126 and a score on 19 carries last weekend. Already USM's all-time leading rusher, Fletcher now has 22 career 100-yard games to his credit and he is aiming at a fourth straight 1,000-yard campaign.

USM's defense started to click down the stretch last season and the unit carried over its momentum to the opener, holding Alcorn State to just 171 total yards. The unit permitted just 62 rushing yards and only 10 first downs, while registering three takeaways and a pair of sacks. It was certainly a dominating performance from this defense, which has all the makings of a solid unit in 2009. Eddie Hicks accounted for one of the team's two interceptions and he is coming off a solid 2008 showing in which he posted 64 stops and four picks.

The Eagles are flying high following their opening win and they will now try to begin C-USA play in the same impressive fashion. Don't expect as many points, but look for USM to control this game from start to finish and emerge with the win.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Southern Miss 34, UCF 10