Tomorrow afternoon there's a HUGE matchup at the Joe. It's probably going to decide the CUSA West. It's LA Tech, it's Southern Miss. It's the Rivalry in Dixie! Each week, I'll take a look at the opponent and offer some last second advice on how to win the game. Hopefully the coaches are reading!

1) Bottle up Jaylond Adams

Coming in to this game, everyone will be talking about Southern Miss's offensive firepower led by former Tech backup (and notorious traitor) Jack Abraham. But what we really should be focusing on is the threat posed by Wide Receiver and return specialist extraordinaire Jaylond Adams. The speedster has THREE special teams TDs in 6 games so far, two on kickoffs and one on a punt. Behind Adams's stellar play, USM is averaging almost 25 yards per kick return, which is 23rd in the nation. Adams's two kick return TDs are the most in the nation. Unfortunately for Tech, Bailey Hale hasn't been the best at putting the ball in the endzone for touchbacks. So far this year, he's got three touchbacks, and Tech has allowed 29 returns (129th FBS) for an average of 21 yards (68th FBS). Hale needs to get in some extra work in the gym this week to put the ball out of harms' way!

2) Keep USM's WRs in front of you

Jack "Benedict" Abraham is having a really nice year for the Buzzards. He's completing 72% of his throws for almost 2,000 yards, and he's got 12 TDs and 4 INTs. That's pretty stellar, if we're being honest. USM's passing game is definitely the strength on the offensive side of the ball. They do a lot of short passes to get their playmakers in space, hoping to break a tackle and make something happen. Almost two thirds of Abraham's passes come within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage... But I'm most concerned about what happens when he looks farther down the field. Earlier this season, Abraham and the gang got into a shootout with the Troy Trojans. In that game, Abraham completed six passes more than 20 yards down the field. Abraham's stat line in that game? 28/36 for 463 yards and two TDs. The Dogs cannot allow Abraham to connect down the field if they want to win tomorrow afternoon.

3) Establish the run

I know, I know. I always say this. But look, J'Mar is more successful through the air when Tech has a running game to open things up. Those are just the facts. This week is no different! Southern Miss fancies itself a run stopping defense (most likely because their secondary just ain't that good!). In their last three games, the Dogs have averaged a whopping 7.2 yards per carry!!! If Tech has anywhere close to that number against USM, it'll be a butt whooping in the good guys' favor. For the whole season, The Dogs are averaging 5.4 yards per carry (17th FBS). Southern Miss allows 4.0 yards per carry, which is good for 62nd in the nation. If Justin Henderson has himself another monster performance, Tech's walking out of the Joe with a big victory tomorrow afternoon.

Evan is also a contributor for gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to follow @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter for more!