While it might be tempting for a team off to a 2-0 start to look ahead to their most bitter conference rival, Missouri Southern Head Coach Bart Tatum insists the Lions are doing no such thing.

“There is no player or coach involved with Missouri Southern football that’s looking anywhere but this Saturday’s game at our stadium and an opportunity to go 3 and 0, he said. “That’s all we’re thinking about.

“That is all we can afford to think about.”

The Lions’ first conference game is Saturday against Southwest Baptist University at Fred G. Hughes Stadium, and Tatum is looking to up his team’s emotion and intensity levels.

“How many of you spent your summers on campus practicing for this season,” he asked his players. “How many hours have each of you spent weight training, or watching film, or at practice?”

In SBU, the Lions face a team whose fortunes have gone the opposite direction of Southern’s thus far. The Bearcats stand 0-2 after losses to Harding (Ark.) University and Division I Missouri State University. The Lions defeated Harding last week, 30-27.

A victory over the Bearcats would give the Lions a 3-0 start for only the sixth time in school history. The best start (and finish) to a Missouri Southern season was 1972, when the Lions went 12-0 and captured the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national title.

Tatum said despite SBU’s 45-14 loss to Missouri State last week, the Bearcats are a tougher foe than the numbers might indicate.

“I thought they did very well (at Missouri State),” he said. “You are talking about a very well-respected Division I program. Terry Allen is one of the best coaches in the history of I-AA football.

“I mean his track record at Northern Iowa is unprecedented.”

Despite repeated inquiries from the media Wednesday, Tatum insists this will not be a tune-up for the U.S. Cellular Miners Bowl IX next Saturday in Pittsburg, Kan.

“We’re going to have to play our best football to beat southwest Baptist and that’s the bottom line.”

The Lions lead the series against Southwest Baptist 14-3, with a significant 8-1 record at home. Southern is 6-2 at Plaster Stadium in Boliver.

Last week, the Missouri Southern offense mustered just 210 total yards, but they made them count and the defense backed it up with several key plays, leading the Lions to a 30-27 non-conference win at Harding.

Southern fell down in an early 7-0 hole when Harding’s Kyle Wess took a screen pass from quarterback David Knighton for a 73-yard score just about seven minutes into the game.

The Lions responded, however, when Ben Augustin blocked a punt from Harding’s Ryan Ferrell and Southern’s Josh Walker picked up the ball, running it back 18 yards for a touchdown and tying the game 7-7 less than two minutes into the second quarter. Both teams would add another tally with short runs in the second quarter, leaving the game tied at 14 going into halftime.

Harding (1-1) started the second half with a score, as Wess took another pass from Knighton, this time for 14 yards to give the Bisons a 20-14 lead after the extra point failed.

After a 31-yard punt return from Colin Bado, Adam Hinspeter tucked the ball and ran for a seven yard touchdown, his third of the season, giving Southern a 21-20.

The defense kept the pressure coming and after a bad snap between Harding’s center and quarterback the ball was hiked over Knighton’s head, and the Bisions were left with the ball at the one-foot line. Instead of risking another blocked punt, Harding chose to step out of the end zone and give Southern the safety.

Freddie Colbert put the Lions up 30-20 just eight minutes into the fourth quarter, taking the ball six yards deep for a touchdown, his second of the game.

Harding got another touchdown pass from Knighton, this time connecting with Devin Link for a 47-yard score.

Rudy Mascaro picked off a Knighton pass with 2:15 left to seal the victory for the Lions. Jordan Chapman had an 18-yard interception return earlier in the quarter.

The Lions held Harding to 318 total yards, just a week after the Bisons set a school record with 632 against SBU. Southern’s defense had two interceptions, a blocked punt and a safety on the night. Colbert rushed for just 17 yards on seven carries, but had two touchdowns.

Bado had seven receptions for 99 yards, including a long of 27. Those yards pushed Bado past the 1,000 career yards mark. Despite Bado’s grabs, starting quarterback Adam Hinspeter has yet to find the end zone through the air. He has, however, rushed for three touchdowns.