South Alabama will look to do something this week it hasn’t often had to over the years — move on following a dominant road victory.

The Jaguars (2-1) pummeled Oklahoma State 33-7 on Saturday in Stillwater, arguably the most-impressive win in the program’s 15-year history. Now it’s back to work for USA, which hosts Central Michigan (1-2) for its final non-conference game of the season on Saturday.

RELATED: Just how historic was South Alabama’s 33-7 win at Oklahoma State?

“You’ve just got to take it week-by-week,” defensive end Brock Higdon said. “It was a big win for us, but whether we won or lost last week, we still have to look forward. The coaches are always talking about going 1-0 this week. So we watched the (Oklahoma State) film and it was behind us.”

What Higdon and his teammates saw during their film session was a powerful 60-minute effort by the Jaguars, who scored on their first three possessions and didn’t allow the Cowboys to get on the board until midway through the fourth quarter. It was South Alabama’s second-ever win over a Power 5 program, and among the most-decisive ever for a Sun Belt team.

The Jaguars have been on a solid upward trajectory since the second quarter of the Week 2 game vs. Southeastern Louisiana, when they shook off an early 7-0 deficit before going on to win 35-17. After getting outscored 44-24 in its first six quarters of the season against Tulane and SLU, South Alabama has outscored opponents 61-17 in its last game-and-a-half.

“I thought we took a big step forward in terms of preparation, in the week of practice showing up early on game day, and we need to continue that trend,” third-year head coach Kane Wommack said. “The challenge here has always been to operate with consistency, and I think we took steps in the right direction in 2022 to play a more consistent style of football.

“But when you have a game like we had against a Power 5 opponent and you take care of business and kind of physically dominate and execute, the expectation is that we continue to do that.”

Central Michigan, coached by former Alabama offensive coordinator and Florida head coach Jim McElwain, has bookended blowout losses to Michigan State (31-7) and Notre Dame (41-17) with a close win over FCS program New Hampshire (45-42). The Jaguars handled the Chippewas in Mount Pleasant, Mich., in 2022, jumping out to a 31-10 halftime lead before winning 38-24.

Nevertheless, CMU is a dangerous team, South Alabama players and coaches say. The Chippewas don’t pass the ball particularly well, but run it with reasonable consistency with both running back Myles Bailey and quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr. (who missed last week’s game due to illness but is expected back by Saturday), among others.

“They lean into a similar identity that we do in terms of the physicality that we want to play with,” Wommack said. “They try to be a very physical team and have shown that in the first few weeks, even against Power 5 opponents. Their offensive line and defensive line have taken steps forward, both in the run game and stopping the run.”

South Alabama won decisively at Oklahoma State despite being without several key players. Wide receiver Devin Voisin (knee), running back Braylon McReynolds (collarbone), safety Keith Gallmon (torn pec) are all out for the year due to injuries suffered in the first two games of the season.

In addition, starting left tackle Joshua McCulloch missed last week’s game due to a recurring knee injury that popped up against last Wednesday. Redshirt freshman Jordan Davis, a South Carolina transfer, stepped in and performed well, Wommack said.

“(McCulloch) has had chronic knee issues, really since he’s been here, before we were even here, and one of those flared up,” Wommack said. “We’ll see how he does here on the front end of the week and how he handles it and go from there.

“But regardless, I was incredibly impressed by Jordan Davis’ performance on Saturday. To go in there, not even knowing at the beginning of the week that you’re going to be the starter as a young transfer that hadn’t really played meaningful college snaps was bit. He went out there and played really physical, and executed to consistency.”

Kickoff for South Alabama-Central Michigan on Saturday is set for 4 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium. The game will stream live via ESPN+.

• South Alabama’s Sept. 30 Sun Belt Conference opener at James Madison has been picked up for national TV.

The Jaguars and Dukes will kick off at 11 a.m. from Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Va., in a matchup of what might be the top two seaons in the Sun Belt. ESPNU will televise the game live.