The Sam Houston State Bearkats have a Southland Conference title to defend. The defense of the crown begins Saturday when the Kats travel to Jacksonville Ala., to take on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks at 2 p.m.”A win this weekend is vitally important,” said Ron Randleman, SHSU head coach. “This is the game we have been pointing to all season. I knew going in; we were young at some spots in the line up and our schedule up to this point should help us. We’re getting into the meat of the schedule now, so we’ve got to have this one.”Both teams enter Saturday’s game with identical 2-3 records, but the Gamecocks already have a 0-1 conference record after being beaten by Nicholls State in week three of the season. Randleman said Jacksonville would be tough since the team is already in a must-win situation.”Their back is to the wall,” he said. “They’re at home and they are going to come at us with everything they’ve got.”The Gamecocks are led by preseason All-American running back Rondy Rogers, who has picked up 412 yards in five games this season. Randleman said he expects Jacksonville to use Rogers as its main offensive weapon, but the team also has the ability to throw the ball when needed.”They are probably going to come at us like Western Illinois and Northern Arizona did,” Randleman said. “They are going to want to run the ball and control the time of possession. I think they probably want to run it 40-45 times and throw the ball 20-25 times. If we don’t stop the run, though, who knows what else they’ll do.”Jacksonville entered the 2002 season with the preseason All-Conference quarterback Reggie Stancil, but has made a change at the position. Anthony Mayo is now the signal caller for the Gamecocks, and the offense has improved from its the slow start.Mayo, a sophomore, has thrown for 581 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 188 yards. Randleman said the Jacksonville offense has made improvements since making the change.”They seem to be playing better with the new guy than they were with Stancil,” he said. “The numbers are better since the change.”As for the Kats, Randleman said there is going to be a big emphasis on the front four of the defensive line on Saturday.”There will be a lot of pressure on the defensive front four,” Randleman said. “I think we’ve gotten better there because of the good physical people we’ve played. Much like the Western Illinois game, again, we’ll have to stop the big play from happening.”SHSU will look to get the running game going to try and jump start the offensive side of the ball. Freshman Stevie Smith will get the start for the Kats and will split time with Maurice Harris.The offense should receive a boost with the return of preseason All-American offensive lineman Chase Denton, who will make his first start of the season for the Kats. Travis Maxey will also be available for some playing time Saturday. Randleman said the addition of these two key athletes gives the Bearkats an opportunity to keep the offensive line rested.”I think they are starting to do a good job,” he said. “Now we have the ability to get some guys a little rest instead of playing them the entire game, which should help us.”We’ve got to generate more offense, especially run offense. We also need to get better on third down. The last several years, we were over 50 percent on third downs; this year it’s like 29 percent. I’m not saying it has to be a 50 percent, but 40 would be nice.”Randleman said the Bearkat offense had a good first quarter against Western Illinois, but the team is not where it needs to be yet.A win Saturday would put the Kats at .500 for the season and start the conference schedule on the right foot.”No doubt a win would be huge for our confidence,” Randleman said. “We knew it (the non conference schedule) wasn’t going to be easy. This game will help determine what we do from here on out.”