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FACTS & STATS: Site: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (61,000) -- Memphis, Tennessee. Television: CSS. Home Record: Marshall 2-0, Memphis 1-1. Away Record: Marshall 0-1, Memphis 0-1. Neutral Record: Marshall 0-0, Memphis 0-0. Conference Record: Marshall 0-0, Memphis 0-0. Series Record: Series is tied, 2-2.

GAME NOTES: The Memphis Tigers open the Conference USA portion of their schedule at home, as they welcome the Marshall Thundering Herd to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

After starting off the season with two straight losses, the Tigers broke into the win column last weekend with a 41-14 win over Tennessee-Martin. Coming off a sub par 6-7 season, last week's matchup was a must-win in every sense of the word for Memphis. Now, the club will look to build on that momentum as it navigates its conference schedule.

Meanwhile, the Thundering Herd improved to 2-1 with last week's narrow 17-10 win over Bowling Green. Marshall, which is coming off four consecutive losing seasons, opened the campaign with a three-point win over Southern Illinois and then lost by 42 points to Virginia Tech. Marshall plays three of its next four on the road.

The all-time series between these two schools is tied at two wins apiece.

Through three games, the Marshall offense is averaging a lackluster 19 points per game, which ranks 101st out of 120 programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Put simply, that's not going to get it done in C-USA, where games often turn into shootouts. Head coach Mark Snyder and offensive coordinator John Shannon need to figure out a way to move the ball more consistently. The only real standout last weekend was running back Darius Marshall, who set a career high with 186 rushing yards, including what turned out to be a game- winning 80-yard scoring burst in the fourth quarter. The Herd had 346 yards of total offense, with 246 coming on the ground. Brian Anderson wasn't able to get anything going in the passing game, completing just 11-of-21 passes for 100 yards, one touchdown and an interception. Those numbers must improve if Marshall is to take a step forward in the conference this season.

Defensively, with the exception of a 50-yard touchdown pass surrendered in the second quarter, the Herd seemed to always be one step ahead of Bowling Green. Quarterback Tyler Sheehan threw for 383 yards and a touchdown, though he needed 62 attempts to do so. The Marshall defense sacked Sheehan six times, including two by defensive end Albert McClellan, who led the team with 12 tackles. Michael Janac was next in line with 11 stops. Thanks to last Saturday's effort, the Herd currently lead the conference and rank eighth nationally in sacks (3.67). Bowling Green isn't much of a running team. Still, the Herd were air tight in that department also, holding the Falcons to a net total of 10 rushing yards on 20 carries.

After scoring just 14 points in each of their first two games, the Memphis offense finally got rolling last weekend and put a 41-spot on UT-Martin. Granted, huge outbursts against FCS schools are seldom a very good indicator of an offense's true capabilities. On the other hand, they've got to start somewhere. Tyler Bass made his debut at quarterback in place of Arkelon Hall, who was largely ineffective in the first two games. It turned out to be a good spot to make the switch to Bass, who came through with 293 passing yards and four TDs, in addition to a team-high 80 yards and a touchdown on the ground. After the game, head coach Tommy West said he felt much better about the offense. But if the Tigers can't come close to repeating that type of performance in their Conference USA schedule, then it hardly matters how the coach feels about his unit.

The Tigers made some strides on defense, as well. While the offense got rolling with 24 unanswered points in the second quarter, the defense did its part by holding UT-Martin to just five first downs in the half. Dontari Poe had a team-high eight tackles. Alton Starr had seven tackles and one big sack in which he forced and recovered a fumble. There was also an attempted fake punt by the Skyhawks, which Memphis was all over. As well as the defense played, however, they were aided by an onslaught of miscues by UT-Martin, which committed a staggering 18 penalties for a loss of 157 yards. Obviously, the Tigers won't be able to rely on each opponent shooting themselves in the foot so much, though they'll take whatever they can get. Memphis also needs to tighten up against the run, as UTM tailback Miguel Barnes managed to run for 105 yards (5.5 ypc) and a touchdown.

Both teams still have some kinks they need to work out. The only way Memphis will reach its true potential on offense is if Bass establishes good chemistry with all-time leading receiver Duke Calhoun (nine rec, 174 yds last week). So far, so good in that regard.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Memphis 31, Marshall 27