Is Louisiana football, Michael Desormeaux playing this week?

Every time Louisiana football and Southern Mississippi football face off, you can throw out the records in all of the past meetings.That was the case when the Golden Eagles outplayed the Ragin’ Cajuns for a 35-31 victory in Week 8 of the college football season.“Obviously, I didn’t do a good enough job of being an a------, but I will be for the next two (weeks),” UL football coach Michael Desormeaux said following the loss against USM. “My job is to get them ready to go play.”After playing for eight straight weeks in a row to open the 2026 college football season, Desoremaux and his staff have finally reached an idle week. With an extra week to chew over its third loss of the season, UL (5-3, 2-2 SBC) has plenty of time to try to get its season back on track. Despite its ultimate goal of competing for the Sun Belt Conference Championship, seemingly compromised.This is far from the way the Cajuns were hoping to enter the open week after winning their prior two games before facing the Golden Eagles. On the bright side, star quarterback Lunch Winfield threw for a career-high 299 yards in the loss. Taking a step back in the loss against Southern Miss was UL’s defense, which otherwise has been the team’s strength.Coming off this, the Cajuns will host another tough West Division opponent in South Alabama (4-3, 2-1) on Saturday, Nov. 7, to kick off the final month of the regular season. The Jaguars won’t make bouncing back easier for the Cajuns, as they are on the hunt for more conference wins as well.Louisiana Ragin' Cajun football 2026 scheduleSpet. 5 vs Lamar (38-7 W)Sept. 12 at USC (49-30 L)Sept. 19 vs UAB (21-14 W)Sept. 26 at Charlotte (34-7 W)Oct. 3 vs Arkansas State (23-20 W)*Oct. 10 at Louisiana Tech (32-31 L)Oct. 17 vs Troy (33-6 W)Oct. 24 at Southern Mississippi (35-31 L)Oct. 31 OFF WEEKNov. 7 vs South Alabama Nov. 12 at ULMNov. 21 vs Coastal CarolinaNov. 28 at Georgia StateREQUIRED READING: Vote now for The Daily Advertiser Athlete of the Week (Oct. 19-25)REQUIRED READING: Lafayette's top high school swimmers chase their Division I dreams this fall, winterShannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on X, formerly known as Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Is Louisiana football, Michael Desormeaux playing this week?