• Texas Southern returns to action Saturday afternoon as they'll host Alabama State at 2 p.m. inside Thorne Stadium.
• Saturday's contest will feature live audio on KTSU 90.9 FM and will be shown live on SWAC TV.
• TSU is looking for its third straight win and still has an outside chance at a divisional title but will need to win out and a Prairie View A&M loss.
• Alabama State enters this weekend's game off a 31-28 loss to Alabama State at the Magic City Classic. The Hornets are also fighting to remain in postseason contention as they'll need to win out while needing help from a pair of opponents they've already played in Bethune-Cookman and Alabama A&M.
• TSU has not played Alabama State much since 2019 and only three times in Houston. Alabama State has a six-game winning streak over TSU and has not lost to TSU in Houston since 2010 but the contest was vacated. Prior to 2010, the last ASU loss in Houston was in 1997 (31-6).
• TSU's Athean Renfro ranks second in the SWAC with 112 yards per game and was the SWAC's Offensive Player of the Week for the second straight week. He needs 101 yards to surpass 1,000 yards for the first rime in his career.
• After a month away on the road, TSU is in the midst of a stretch where five of its final six games are in Houston.
• Despite having three conference losses, all is not lost as TSU is still one game out of the division lead. TSU obviously will need to win out in order to even had a chance at a tiebreaker.
• TSU head coach Cris Dishman and Alabama State head coach Eddie Robinson both played for the Houston Oilers and were teammates from 1992-96.
• A trio of TSU offensive starters earned 2026 Preseason All-SWAC Second Team honors in junior tight end Kordell Rodgers, sophomore offensive lineman Jayden Daniels and redshirt junior wideout Roriyon Richardson.
• Despite coming off a winning season for the first time since 2000, TSU was picked to finish fourth in the SWAC West by head coaches and sports information directors in the annual preseason poll. TSU returns six offensive starters and three on defense.
• The Tigers open the season with a new defensive coordinator in Scott Vestal but head coach Cris Dishman stated Monday he'll call the defense starting Saturday.
• This marks the second consecutive year TSU will have six home contests as they played on Week 0 for the first time since 2017. Unlike last year, the caveat to this year's schedule is that TSU will play in multiple locations in the Houston area due to scheduling conflicts with its primary stadium in Shell Energy. TSU will play five games inside Aldine ISD's Thorne Stadium (19 miles from campus) and one at Reliant Stadium (7 miles).
• Cris Dishman is the 19th head coach in the history of Texas Southern Football. Faced with a tough task due to the program's historical nature (29 winning seasons in 79 years of existence), Dishman has set out to reverse the trend after posting a winning record following his second season.
