All of McNeese State’s preseason goals are attainable again, but not without a win tonight at Northwestern State.

The No. 9 Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 Southland) enter the day in a virtual five-way tie for first place, but the Demons (4-4, 2-2) are looking to pull themselves back into the race with their first win over McNeese in a decade.

“It’s a big challenge,” said McNeese head coach Matt Viator. “Number one, it’s McNeese-Northwestern. Number two, it’s in Natchitoches. And number three, the fact is they’re a good football team.”

The pileup atop the league came into place when Stephen F. Austin upset defending champion Southeastern Louisiana last week.

“It just changed the outlook, but it changes our mentality now,” said defensive tackle Kevin Dorn. “We’re already in playoff mode now. If we lose, we’re pretty much out of it because there’s so many teams tied for first. But we still know we can win out.”

This will be the most talent Northwestern has thrown at McNeese in some time. The Demons beat Conference USA leader Louisiana Tech as well as the Sam Houston State squad that handed McNeese its lone league loss.

“I believe without a doubt this is probably their best team since 2008,” Viator said. “They have the best FBS victory of anybody in the league this year. And they beat Sam Houston State up there, so they have two very quality wins.”

The Demons are coming off a 58-35 loss at Central Arkansas that saw an already injury-depleted defense suffer more key losses in starting tackle Deon Simon and all-conference cornerback Imoan Claiborne, both of whom coach Jay Thomas described as “day to day.”

The Cowboys aren’t without health concerns of their own, with Viator describing wide receiver Ernest Celestie and running back Derrick Milton as questionable to play.

McNeese was without starting running back Kelvin Bennett and starting safeties Aaron Sam and Dominique Hill in last week’s 41-21 win at Incarnate Word.

While both teams have questions surrounding who will suit up, there are very few mysteries between the coaching staffs.

The Demons are overloaded with coaches familiar with Viator and the Cowboys, and vice versa. Thomas filled the same role at Nicholls State from 2004-09. Defensive coordinator Mike Lucas is back in the Southland after two years at Indiana State. Before that he spent eight years at Southeastern Louisiana — three as defensive coordinator and five as head coach.

“I’ve competed for probably too long against Mike Lucas,” Viator said. “I thought we finally had him out of the league but Jay brought him back. He’s a really good football coach.”

Demons offensive coordinator Ben Norton worked alongside Viator as McNeese’s co-offensive coordinator from 2005-06.(MGNonline)