Jacksonville State’s first season as an FBS program has been one for the history books, and the final chapter will be written in New Orleans in mid-December.

The Gamecocks (8-4) face Louisiana (6-6) in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at Caesars Superdome on Dec. 16. Kickoff is set for 1:15 p.m. on ESPN.

“I’m really excited for our players and everybody associated with the program to get to the first-ever bowl for Jax State,” Gamecocks coach Rich Rodriguez said. “It’s going be a wonderful experience for everybody, most importantly for our players, going down to New Orleans. They’ll do a great job playing a good opponent. I think they’re really excited about that. … When you’re really excited to be in a bowl game, usually you play better and I think our guys will have a great week and a half of preparation.”

RELATED: Jackson, Hardie named first-team All-Conference USA

As has been well-documented, Jax State was not originally eligible for the postseason as an FBS transition program this year. However, because there were not enough 6-win teams to fill all 82 bowl slots, the Gamecocks were able to secure the New Orleans Bowl bid.

Rodriguez learned the news his team would go bowling shortly after they lost 20-17 at New Mexico State in their regular-season finale on Nov. 25. He was able to inform his team via the on-board public address system during the flight home.

“I was still pissed about the game because we didn’t play well,” Rodriguez said. “We still had a chance to win it. But you know, we felt pretty good that we would get an opportunity, but you don’t know if the right teams are going to lose and you don’t get your spot. When that happened, that was especially for our seniors. I mean, this is their last chance to be in a bowl game and to make history, so that made the night a little bit better — didn’t make it all better, but it made a little bit better.”

Indeed, the last several years have been a long road for the Jax State seniors, who saw through not only the FCS/FBS transition, but the move between three different conferences — the Ohio Valley to the ASUN to Conference USA — in the last three years. They also endured the COVID pandemic that split their 2020 season into fall and spring sessions, meaning they played a season-and-a-half during the 2021 calendar year.

Center Treylen Brown and defensive back Jeremiah Harris are among the 11 seniors on the Jax State roster. They’ve seen all the highs and lows, and have reveled in overcoming expectations this season.

“It means a lot,” Brown said of the bowl bid. “A lot of people didn’t expect us to be this good. They had us seventh in the (preseason) poll for CUSA, so obviously, no one really thought we were going be that good. We ended up shocking the world, putting Jacksonville on the map and that’s what it’s all about.”

Louisiana finished in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt Conference, and lost three straight games before beating in-state rival Louisiana-Monroe 52-21 in their regular-season finale to become bowl-eligible. The Ragin’ Cajuns are in the New Orleans Bowl for the seventh time overall and second time in three years, and are likely to have a highly partisan crowd in the Superdome.

The New Orleans Bowl offers a chance for Conference USA to measure itself against the Sun Belt, which shares much of the same geographic footprint and includes several teams that were once in CUSA. Louisiana is about a 3.5-point favorite to beat Jacksonville State, according to early bowl odds.

“The Sun Belt has been a widely-respected, highly-respected Group of 5 conference,” Rodriguez said. “Our guys will know the challenge when we watch the film. I would be shocked and disappointed if we didn’t prepare really well, both this week and next week. … My experience in bowl games, when you have a team that’s focused when they’re supposed to be focused at meetings and practice, they play well during the game. We’ll make sure that happens next week and play as hard as we can.”

Rodriguez confirmed Monday that kicker Alen Karajic had entered the NCAA transfer portal and would not be with the team going forward. A four-year starter with one season of eligibility remaining, Karajic made 42 of 43 extra points this season and 14 of 20 field goals — including 41-yard game-winner as time expired vs. Western Kentucky on Oct. 17 — and was also the Gamecocks’ primary kickoff man.

Freshman Garrison Rippa is the only other kicker listed on the Jax State roster. He has not attempted an extra point or field goal this season, but did kick off six times.