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FACTS & STATS: Site: Cajun Field (31,000) -- Lafayette, Louisiana. Television: Cox Sports TV/ESPN3. Home Record: North Texas 2-1, Louisiana 3-0. Away Record: North Texas 0-3, Louisiana 2-1. Neutral Record: North Texas 0-0, Louisiana 0-0. Conference Record: North Texas 1-1, Louisiana 2-0. Series Record: North Texas leads, 8-7

GAME NOTES: The Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana look to remain perfect in the Sun Belt Conference and extend their five game winning streak as they play host to the North Texas Mean Green this weekend.

North Texas is looking to stay hot as the visitors are coming off of a 31-17 victory over Florida Atlantic. North Texas struggled early in the season, but faced a difficult schedule as all the teams it played were considered contenders to win their respective conferences with the exception of Indiana. The conference victory was the first of the year for the Mean Green and they will look to climb in the standings as they face the Sun Belt's leader this week.

Louisiana is off to a great start in 2011 under head coach Mark Hudspeth in his first year with the team. The Ragin' Cajuns have already surpassed their three win total from 2010. They have reeled off five straight victories against Kent State, Nicholls State, FIU, Florida Atlantic, and Troy after losing in the season opener to Oklahoma State. Lousiana outlasted Troy 31-17 last week despite losing starting quarterback Blaine Gautier in the first quarter to injury.

This will be 16th game of the series between these two programs. North Texas holds a one game advantage heading into Saturday. In the thrilling 2010 matchup, Louisiana hung on to beat North Texas 28-27 as the Mean Green had an extra point attempt blocked with less than a minute remaining.

North Texas relies on tailback Lance Dunbar for production week in and week out. Last week in the Florida Atlantic game, the star paced the offense with 105 yards and a rushing score and moved into second place on the school's all time rushing list in the process. The offense only put up 237 yards of total offense in the win but managed to its highest point total of the season. The offense is operated by Derek Thompson who has struggled so far this season. Defenses have been able to key on the North Texas rushing attack due to the ineffective passing game.

The Mean Green defense was an instrumental factor in the win over Florida Atlantic as it scored two defensive touchdowns on interception returns. Zachary Orr, who is leading the team in tackles with 50, had a career-high 12 tackles against the Owls. North Texas has allowed 172 points (43 per game) in their four losses, but just 38 (19 per game) in their two victories.

Louisiana entered its matchup with North Texas leading the conference in scoring (32.7 points per game). The Ragin' Cajuns have scored over 30 points in their last four games and could very well make that streak five against the suspect North Texas defense. Gautier is expected to return this week and take over the offense after missing the majority of the game last week. Masson did perform extremely well in relief duty, well enough to be named the conference's offensive player of the week, so his possible contribution should not be ruled out. Gautier is a duel threat at the quarterback position as he leads the team is passing and is second on the squad in rushing. Tailbacks Alonzo Harris and Quenda Griffin have split the carries and both will be used to wear down the North Texas defense. Harris had a career-high 81 yards against Troy. Javone Lawson is leading the team in receiving with 23 catches for 412 yards.

Defensively Louisiana held the potentially dangerous Troy offense to just 17 points last week but still allows nearly 30 points per contest. The Ragin Cajuns have forced 14 turnovers already and have also sacked opposing quarterbacks 19 times. Lance Kelley has been the leader of the defense so far with 51 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and an interception.

Despite the glaring difference in wins and losses, these teams might not be as far off as the records indicate. Offensively the only statistic that Louisiana dominates is points scored. The Mean Green are going into this game with nothing to lose, which makes them a very dangerous opponent for Louisiana.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Louisiana 31, North Texas 24