After five straight midweek games, Jacksonville State doesn’t exactly get a reprieve this week.

Sure, the Gamecocks (7-2) are finally playing on Saturday again for the first time since Sept. 23. However, JSU hits the road to face those “other” Gamecocks — South Carolina of the SEC.

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“It’s a normal Saturday, though it’s not normal when you’re playing an SEC team on the road,” second-year Jax State coach Rich Rodriguez said. “But at the same time, it’s a great opportunity. … I’m excited about it and I think our guys will be excited, too. I think if you polled most of our players, they’d be like ‘yeah, I love playing SEC teams’ or playing against the best to measure themselves. And that’s what they get a chance to do this weekend. It’s the most-talented team we’ve played since I’ve been here.”

Jax State, in its first season as an FBS program and a member of Conference USA, gained a reputation as a “giant killer” during its FCS days. The Gamecocks won at Ole Miss in 2010 and at Florida State in 2021, and threw a massive scare into sixth-ranked Auburn at Jordan-Hare Stadium in 2015 before falling 27-20 in overtime.

South Carolina is scuffling at 2-6 this season, but is still a better than two-touchdown favorite on Saturday. Nevertheless, the JSU players aren’t shying away from the challenge. For some of them, it’s personal.

“I get to go back home to South Carolina,” said Jax State offensive lineman Treylon Brown, who is from Spartanburg, S.C. “My brother (Freddie Brown III) played at South Carolina. So honestly, I grew up at Williams-Brice Stadium, so it’s going to be a cool experience for me. … I always envisioned myself being a Gamecock. I just wound up a Jax State Gamecock.”

Jacksonville State won four of its five midweek games, with the only loss coming to unbeaten Liberty on Oct. 10 when its top two quarterbacks got injured. The Gamecocks throttled Florida International 41-16 last Wednesday behind five sacks and eight tackles for loss from its defense.

South Carolina’s offensive line is potentially one spot Jax State can exploit on Saturday. USC’s Spencer Rattler has been sacked 34 times this season (125th among FBS teams), while JSU has put the quarterback on the ground a CUSA-best 30 times.

“Spencer is a talented guy, but he’s also been in their system for several years now and I think he’s playing really good football,” Rodriguez said. “He’s a competitive guy and it would be fun to watch if you weren’t playing him. I think he’s an NFL guy.

“The biggest thing for us defensively, probably, is to try to get (Rattler) into some predictable situations — third-and-long. Every team you play, if you can them in third-and-long, then you can do some of your stuff defensively. Our defense, we’re not very big, but we’re pretty athletic. So if we can get them in third-and-long, our athleticism can help out. But that’s easier said than done.”

Jacksonville State fields one of top 10 rushing offenses in the country, averaging 217.2 yards per game on the ground. South Carolina allows an average of 137.1 yards per game rushing, in the middle of the pack among FBS teams.

Jax State got a boost against FIU from the return of running back Ron Wiggins, who had missed five games with a shoulder/chest injury. Wiggins ran for 61 yards and two touchdowns in his first action since Sept. 9 and Rodriguez said Tuesday the junior from Jacksonville made it through the game without any further injury worries.

After shuffling quarterbacks much of the season, Jax State appears to have settled on Zion Webb as its primary quarterback. Webb has dealt with injuries off and on this season, but has rushed for 271 yards and passed for 323 in his last two games.

“He’s a confidence quarterback, so when he has a great week of practice, he’s going to end up playing really, really well,” Brown said. “That’s where, where it starts at, in practice.

“We’ve got to give Zion time. We’ve got to be able to run the ball, and they’re a really good defense. The record shows 2-6, but they’re not a 2-6 team to me.”

Kickoff for Jacksonville State-South Carolina is set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. The game will air live on ESPNU.