Backed by the nation's most potent offense and an improved defense, Houston is in position to make history.

Standing in its way is a Southern Mississippi team that is enjoying one of its best seasons ever.

The seventh-ranked Cougars look to remain undefeated while trying for a fourth straight home win over the No. 24 Golden Eagles on Saturday in the Conference USA championship game.

One year removed from a 5-7 season marred by an early season-ending knee injury to star quarterback Case Keenum, Houston (12-0, 8-0) joins top-ranked LSU as the only undefeated teams in the country. Making its third C-USA title game appearance, the Cougars have a chance to earn their first-ever BCS bid with a win Saturday and become the first team from the league to play in the Bowl Championship Series.

"Fifteen weeks ago, we set out for one goal and that goal has not changed all year," coach Kevin Sumlin said. "I think a lot of people have tried to talk our team into all these other scenarios and stuff that's happening out there. The ultimate goal for us from day one was to win the conference championship."

That's very much in reach for Houston, which set a school record for single-season victories with a 48-16 win at Tulsa last Friday.

"That's a pretty good position to be in," said Keenum, who threw for 457 yards and five touchdowns versus Tulsa. "I couldn't ask for anything else."

Looking for their first C-USA title since beating Southern Mississippi 34-20 in the 2006 conference championship game, the Cougars lead the nation in total offense (613.3 yards per game), scoring (52.7 points per game) and passing yards (449.7 per game).

Keenum, the NCAA career leader in passing yards, touchdown passes and total offense, has completed 73.2 percent of his passes this season for 4,726 yards, with 43 TDs and just three interceptions. He was 44 of 54 for 559 yards with five TDs and an interception in his only previous game against the Golden Eagles, a 50-43 home win in 2009.

Patrick Edwards, second in the nation with 1,496 receiving yards, caught eight passes for 181 yards and four TDs for the Cougars last week. The senior had seven receptions for 125 yards and two scores in last season's 59-41 loss at Southern Miss.

"There's no secret to what they do," Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said. "It's not like they are doing something different week in and week out. They do what they do."

While Houston's offense usually draws the headlines, its defense has been a big reason the program has made such huge strides in 2011.

The Cougars have gone from 96th in scoring defense in 2010 (32.2 points per game) to 30th in 2011 (20.9 ppg) - the third-best improvement in the country. They have allowed fewer than 20 points in each of their last four games and given up conversions on only 37.23 percent of third downs.

"I wouldn't say it's a remarkable turnaround," defensive coordinator Brian Stewart said. "I just think you keep on laying bricks. The more bricks you lay, you build a foundation, and then you build a house. We just kept laying bricks.

"We're not where we want to be, we're not the defense we definitely want to be. But we're a work in progress, and that's good."

Southern Miss (10-2, 6-2) has looked good while posting its first 10-win season since 1988, en route to capturing the C-USA Eastern Division. Winners in nine of 10 overall, the Golden Eagles are making their first title game appearance since 2006. They have not won the league crown since 2003, and know recording another is going to be an extremely tough task.

"We wouldn't rather be anywhere else," defensive coordinator Dan Disch said. "But it's a heckuva challenge. They can humble you quick and we're well aware of that."

Southern Miss's defense should feel pretty good about itself after giving up 181 total yards in a 44-7 win over Memphis last Saturday. Though the Tigers are not near the offensive juggernaut that Houston is, the Golden Eagles held them to just 7 yards rushing and scored three defensive touchdowns, including a 100-yard interception return by defensive back Kendrick Presley.

Offensively, Southern Miss has its own talented quarterback in Austin Davis, who has thrown for 3,052 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The senior was 24 of 31 for 293 yards with two TDs and no picks versus Houston last season.

The Golden Eagles' three-game skid at Houston dates to a 31-10 victory there in 2003.

© 2011 STATS LLC

Southern Miss ruins No. 7 Houston's BCS hopes

HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston lost much more than a game in Saturday's Conference USA championship.

Austin Davis threw four touchdown passes and No. 24 Southern Mississippi ruined Houston's perfect season and Bowl Championship Series hopes with a 49-28 victory over the seventh-ranked Cougars.

It was star quarterback Case Keenum's last home game for Houston for sure, and could've also been the finale for coach Kevin Sumlin, who's mentioned as a top candidate for virtually every higher-profile job opening.

Sumlin shot down a media report that he'll soon become the coach at Texas A&M, which fired Mike Sherman only two days ago.

"That is not true," Sumlin said. "I said a few weeks ago I wasn't going to talk to anybody, period, during the football season. Many of the things that have been reported have been found out to be false already.

"I haven't talked to anybody," he said. "I haven't said anything to anybody about it."

Houston athletics director Mack Rhoades will discuss a contract extension soon with Sumlin, who was an offensive assistant under R.C. Slocum at A&M from 2001-02. Sumlin is 35-17 in four seasons here.

"People are crazy if they don't think we are working our tails off to do what we can to keep him," Rhoades said. "He's a terrific person and a terrific head coach, and we're going to continue to (communicate), and that is all I am going to say about that."

On a grander scale, the Cougars (12-1) blew its big chance to impress a national-television audience and show that they had finally climbed to the top in their state after years of playing in the shadows of A&M and Texas.

Keenum could've also bolstered his case for an invitation to next week's Heisman Trophy ceremony.

Instead, the Golden Eagles (11-2) turned it into their showcase, shackling Houston's high-powered offense and striking with several big plays of their own to win their first league title and reach 11 victories for the first time.

"Everybody thought Houston was just going to walk away with this thing," Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said. "So our guys obviously took objection to that. They had something to prove. They were going to play with a chip on their shoulders. They wanted everybody to know that Southern Miss is really a good football team."

Southern Miss won the C-USA championship for the first time, and the league for the fifth time overall.

Tracey Lampley caught two touchdown passes and the Golden Eagles became the first team to hold Houston, averaging more than 50 per game, below 35 points this season.

Keenum completed 41 of 67 passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions. He became the first quarterback to reach 5,000 yards passing in three seasons, one more record to tack onto his magnificent career.

But the only goal he cared about reaching Saturday was lifting the program to its first undefeated season and first BCS berth.

Now, all he and the Cougars have to look forward to is a disappointing, lower-tier bowl.

"It was in our grasp," Keenum said, "and we let it slip away."

The Cougars nimbly played through the groundswell of rumors about Sumlin in recent weeks, and vowed that they wouldn't lose focus leading up to the biggest game in program history.

It was obvious from the start, though, that the Cougars were off-kilter.

Southern Miss jumped to a 14-0 lead before Keenum finally started clicking midway through the second quarter.

"We weren't affected at all," Keenum said of dealing with distractions. "We went out there, and it was just about the conference championship game."

Charles Sims gained 31 yards on a screen pass, and Keenum found Justin Johnson for a 9-yard touchdown pass with 7:48 left in the half.

Keenum went 3 for 3 on the next series, hitting Johnson in stride down the middle for a tying 50-yard touchdown.

Houston's defense, vastly improved from last season, never got a handle on Davis, who also rushed for 47 yards.

Southern Miss went up 21-14 at the break, and the Cougars looked just as shaky after halftime.

Golden Eagles' defensive back Furious Bradley blocked Richie Leone's punt, scooped up the loose ball and took it 11 yards for a score and Deron Wilson intercepted a Keenum pass in the end zone.

The Cougars got that one back, when Houston's Philip Steward picking off a deflected pass and returning it to the Southern Miss 5. Michael Hayes scored on the next play to cut the deficit to 28-21, and a Houston rally seemed to be coming.

Instead, Southern Miss scored twice over the next seven minutes to stretch the margin to 42-21.

Sumlin called his players together and gave them a fiery pep talk between the third and fourth quarters, but that changed nothing.

Southern Miss linebacker Ronnie Thornton intercepted a Keenum pass and returned it 26 yards for a score with 2:41 left. As the Golden Eagles celebrated, Keenum unstrapped his helmet and slowly trudged off the field.

Keenum, a sixth-year senior, set Football Bowl Subdivision career records for total offense, yards passing and touchdown passes this year after missing most of last season with a torn knee ligament.

None of that mattered on Saturday.

"I knew at halftime I had 30 minutes left," Keenum said, "and that was the last time I would walk off that field in my jersey. It was not the way we wanted to go out.

"I'm not going to accept this," he said. "Whatever bowl game that is, we are going to prepare and go out winners."

© 2011 STATS LLC