After a long, hot summer, the cowboys are ready to meet someone new.

They’ll get that chance on Saturday when they travel to Stephenville, Texas, for a nationally televised opening match.

“We’re excited to get to this point,” Gary Goff said Monday as McNeese State began the first of 12 weeks of play.

“It’s been a long camp. This is the longest camp we’ve ever been to. These guys are at the end of their rope. They’re tired of beating each other up.”

Goff is entering his third year as head coach of the Cowboys and it is a crucial year after a forgettable 1-10 season last year.

The Cowboys will face a familiar opponent in their opener at Tarleton State. This will be the third time in the last five seasons that the two teams have faced each other in an opener, splitting the previous two games.

McNeese won at Tarleton in the spring of 2021, taking a 40-37 victory in the second overtime. Last year, the Texans came to Lake Charles and broke a 17-17 tie at halftime to escape with a 52-34 win.

This time, the programs will face off in the first game of the season on American soil. The game will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2 as part of Week Zero.

Florida State and Georgia are the first college game, but it is played in Ireland and should be over for McNeese and Tarleton. A third game starts at 3 p.m., so the Cowboys and Texans will be alone on the college football stage for almost an entire quarter.

The two schools agreed to postpone their game by four weeks from the original date in order to be in the spotlight.

“This is great for us, this is great for our university,” Goff said. “We have the first game of the season, which is cool. We’re excited about it.”

The Cowboys are looking to rewrite the script of one of the program’s worst seasons, in which their only win came by forfeit.

“Our guys are hungry, they have a chip on their shoulder and they want to compete,” Goff said. “We want to keep that chip on our shoulder right there.”

The Texans finished 8-3 last fall and have even higher aspirations this season as they begin their first full season as an FCS program, having moved up from Division II. Ironically, their first game at the DI level was the spring loss to McNeese in 2021.

Tarleton is off to a strong start to the season, ranking nationally in most preseason polls. They were picked 23rd to 18th in the FCS and are 18-point favorites over the Cowboys. Last year, McNeese was the heavy favorite.

“We’re going up against a great opponent and it’s going to take us four quarters to win,” Goff said. “This is a great opportunity for us to go out there and play well. We’re looking forward to it.”

However, Goff doesn’t want the season to depend on just this one game.

“It’s only important because it’s our first game and I mean that,” he said. “It’s one game at a time. You can’t lose sight of that. We are determined to be the best team we can be today and tomorrow.”

“One game doesn’t define you. I don’t want to put that burden on these young men and this team. We’re focused on the 1-0 and then we’ll see where we stand.”

A win would be a huge confidence boost for the Cowboys, who have 59 new players on their roster while Tarleton returns most of his roster, including all 11 offensive linemen who faced the Cowboys last year and combined for 554 yards.

Quarterback Victor Gabalis threw 344 passes and three touchdowns, while McNeese quarterback Nate Glantz was sacked seven times. This led to a major restructuring of the Cowboys roster, including on defense.

“They have a balanced, explosive offense, but we’ve improved on both sides of the ball,” Goff said. “We put in a lot of hard work during the offseason and I’m excited to see how we play against such a strong team.”

Thanks to ESPN2, the Cowboys will be the only game to watch for at least 30 minutes.