K.C. Keeler knows a quality product when he sees it.

The first-year Sam Houston State coach won a Football Championship Subdivision national championship at Delaware in 2003, and led the program to appearances in the title game in 2007 and ’10.

All of those events occurred since the last time McNeese won a playoff game — a semifinal victory over Villanova in 2002. So it’s also safe to say he’s in tune with what it takes to succeed in the postseason.

And when Keeler looks at this year’s Cowboys, he recognizes a team with the potential to do things he has witnessed with his own eyes.

“This is a team capable of winning a national championship at this level,” Keeler said. “This McNeese team is every bit as good as that Eastern Washington team, just a little different. Eastern Washington is gonna kill you with offense. McNeese is very balanced.”

Eastern Washington is ranked No. 2 in the country behind three-time defending champion North Dakota State and opened the season with a 56-35 win over the Bearkats.

The Cowboys are ranked fifth in the nation.

McNeese players have started talking in recent weeks about how the goal for their team is not a conference championship — something the Cowboys haven’t done since 2009 — but a national title.

“That was the main goal this spring and going into the fall,” said Cowboys senior safety Aaron Sam. “We were preaching national championship. We know what it takes to get a conference championship. We were one game away from doing that last year. But the ultimate goal is a national championship, and that’s what we’re here for.”

It’s a bold proclamation, to be certain, but Keeler’s assessment only serves to bolster that belief.

“I take that as a challenge, because that’s what we’re going to do,” said Cowboys junior defensive end Brian Hine. “We’re going to continue working as a team. I know we have national championship potential. Winning conference is our responsibility. Winning a national championship is our goal. And we intend to reach that goal this year.”

Hine is not one to lack confidence. It was he who declared two weeks before the Nebraska game that “We’re going to beat them Week 1” even if it sounded as sensible as telling someone “I’ll meet you on Mars” at the time.

Coaches aren’t paid to give motivational statements to the team they are about to play, so Keeler may be employing the old Jedi mind trick to lull McNeese into a false sense of security.

The Cowboys say they aren’t going to take it that way, though.

“It’s very awesome that he’s saying that,” said tight end Zach Hetrick. “It’s very humbling. We’ve just got to stay focused and do our thing and see how it goes, one game at a time.”(Rick Hickman/American Press)