An 0-3 start for Jacksonville State left people wondering what may be next for Rich Rodriguez and his 2024 group.

Eight straight victories later, it added a conference title game to its home schedule.

Jax State downed Sam Houston 21-11 and clinched the right to host the Conference USA title game.

The victory puts the Gamecocks in the CUSA title game in their first year of being eligible to play in the game.

“I’m proud to get the win,” Rodriguez said. “Anytime you get a win over a good team, that’s good, but now you get a win to play in a championship game. Getting a bowl game your first year is unprecedented.

“To win a share of the league, or whatever you want to call it, playing a championship game in your second year is neat for everybody associated with our program.”

The Conference USA title game is set for Friday, Dec. 6 at 6:06 p.m. at Burgess-Snow Field at AmFirst Stadium; it will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.

“Starting 0-3, who would have ever thought?” defensive lineman J-Rock Swain said.

“At the beginning of the year, it was off on a bad foot, we weren’t clicking together. Now, we went 8-0 over the past eight weeks.”

When asked about what’s made his program so successful, he pointed to the way his players and the staff members were able to buy in and carry on a tradition set forth before them.

“There was a good culture and a good feel around the program the day we got here,” Rodriguez said. “We had to institute our policies and the way we do things, and the hard edge, earn success, kind of mantra that we took and we stuck to that the whole time, you know. And you lose some players, like we had 60 new players this year, you know. And I think that’s, you know, indicative of what college football is right now. I’m like, Oh, you’re replacing half your team. Maybe that’s why we started off a little slow, but the culture and the way we go about doing things has never wavered, and it won’t as long as this staff is here.”

All of Jax State’s first three touchdowns came from runs by quarterback Tyler Huff, who found the end zone from 3, 38 and 7 yards out in the win. He finished with 177 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 30 attempts, both the number of yards and attempts marking career highs.

Tre Stewart finished with 99 rushing yards, falling 1 yard short of becoming the second Jax State player to rush for 100 yards in seven straight games.

“Playing quarterback, I want to throw the ball,” Huff said. “But hey, when it comes to the part of the game where you got to run the ball, I’m more than willing to do it. Between me, Tre and the rest of the back we’ve got, I think we’ve been doing some good things.”

The offense has scored 333 points in its eight-game winning streak, marking the third-most in an eight-game span in program history; the 2018 team scored 349 across six games.

Sam Houston found points from kicker Christian Pavon on a 34-yard field goal in the second quarter, with the Bearkats scoring their first touchdown of the day with a 21-yard rushing score from quarterback Sam Watson; he also ran for the ensuing 2-point conversion.

The point total allowed by the Gamecocks’ defense is the lowest mark this season since its 44-7 win over Southern Miss on Sept. 21.

Safety Fred Perry finished with a team-high eight tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a quarterback hurry and combined with Jawaun Campbell for a key sack on third down.

“That’s one more senior night for us,” Swain said of playing in the CUSA title game. “That’s what we’re looking for, really, to play another game here, especially for us seniors. Everybody wants to come back and play home for one last time, but it’ll mean something; that game will mean something.”

The Gamecocks (8-3, 7-0 CUSA) will close out the regular season at Western Kentucky. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ESPNU.