First place in Conference USA is on the line Tuesday night, as Jacksonville State hosts unbeaten Liberty in a nationally televised showcase at Burgess-Snow Field.

The Gamecocks (5-1) and Flames (5-0) are both 3-0 in CUSA play, a half-game ahead of Western Kentucky (4-2, 2-0). Jax State hosts the Hilltoppers the following Tuesday, and could have a stranglehold on first place if it can win both games.

“It is very cool to see Jax State on the map and it is wild to see,” Jax State center Treylen Brown said. “We just have to keep grinding and showing everyone good football. I have heard from a lot of friends back home and people back in high school that I haven’t talked to in a while. You definitely get more engagement with the exposure.”

To continue receiving positive national attention, the Gamecocks will have to beat Liberty. The Flames have not lost under first-year coach Jamey Chadwell, and are coming off a 21-16 home win against Sam Houston last week.

Liberty is 2-0 on the road this year, having won at Buffalo 55-27 in a non-conference game on Sept. 16 and 38-6 at Florida International in a CUSA game on Sept. 23. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Kaidon Salter has a 12-to-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season and has also rushed for six touchdowns.

“They are undefeated for a reason,” Jax State coach Rich Rodriguez said of Liberty. “I think many people picked them or Western (Kentucky) to win the league and they have done a good job so far. Jamey Chadwell has done a great job wherever he has been.

“It will be a big game and we hope to have a great crowd for what we think is our first-ever Tuesday night game in Jax State history. We hope the students will come out and I know the band will be there and they really helped us last week. I told them after the game that they were great support.”

Jax State is coming off a pair of remarkable road victories, in both of which they came back from a double-digit halftime deficit. On Sept. 28, the Gamecocks were down 21-7 at halftime and 28-20 with 1:11 left before rallying to win 35-28 in overtime.

Then last Wednesday at Middle Tennessee, JSU trailed 23-7 at the break before scoring 38 straight points to spark a 45-30 victory. Much has been made of the Gamecocks’ conditioning, as they have been a second-half team all season.

“I think it is a factor and I think all the teams we have played are in good shape too,” Rodriguez said. “We take pride in that and we don’t run 100s or 40s after practice now and we really don’t do it much in August. We think our tempo in practice and the way we run practices, even though they are not long, helps us get in and stay in shape. A lot of times, on some teams, your second and third teams are not as in shape because they don’t get as many reps. With us, our twos get as many reps as our ones.”

Jacksonville State and Liberty have been statistically the top two defenses in Conference USA this season. The Gamecocks allow just 17.5 points per game, the Flames 18.

JSU made a number of huge defensive plays vs. Middle Tennessee to help with the comeback. Defensive end Chris Hardie had a monster game with 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks and a 58-yard interception return that set up a touchdown.

“We wanted to attack and be physical,” said Hardie, named Monday as CUSA Defensive Player of the Week. “We knew going into (the Middle Tennessee) game that they were a good team and that they would play hard. We wanted to focus on us and getting back to that hard-edge football.”

Jax State continues to feature two quarterbacks, with Logan Smothers leading the comeback win over Sam Houston and Zion Webb playing most of the second half vs. Middle Tennessee. The two have combined for 426 yards and six touchdowns rushing and 926 yards and seven scores passing.

The Gamecocks lead Conference USA in rushing at 214.5 yards per game. Malik Jackson, who has assumed No. 1 back duties since a season-ending injury to Ron Wiggins in Week 3, has run for 558 yards and four touchdowns in 2023.

Kickoff for Jax State-Liberty on Tuesday is set for 6:30 p.m. ESPNU will broadcast the game live.