Alcorn State is seeking to become just the second team in SWAC Championship Game history to win three-consecutive title games.

And as fate would have it, the team standing in its way just happens to be the one conference foe with three straight title game wins.

Alcorn State will face off against Grambling State at 3 p.m. Saturday in Houston in the 18th edition of the title bout that began in 1999.

The game will be televised on ESPNU.

Grambling State won three-consecutive conference championship games from 2000-2002 and have won six total championship games. Alcorn has won two title games.

The Braves (5-5) are all too familiar with the Tigers (9-1) with the two teams having faced off in last year’s championship game, an ASU 49-21 win, and earlier this season in Grambling on Sept. 24 where GSU ran away with a 43-18 victory.

“Your mindset each year is to be great,” first-year ASU coach Fred McNair said. “They’re enjoying it right now. It’s like I told them, ‘It’s all about what we do. How we execute, how we play defense and how we handle special teams.’”

Grambling enters today’s title game ranked No. 1 in the latest BOXTOROW HBCU Coaches poll, pulling in 13 of 17 first-place votes. Alcorn, meanwhile, remains at No. 7 after beating rival Jackson State 35-16 on Nov. 19.

“It’s easy to get to the top, but staying there is the hardest task,” McNair said. “You’re going to have to fight to stay there, and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have to fight to get Grambling off that.”

Alcorn State played both Lenorris Footman and Noah Johnson at quarterback against GSU earlier this season. Footman, however, has missed the Braves past two games with a hand injury, but McNair said the junior signal-caller could return for today’s title game after being cleared during the Braves’ opening date last week.

“(Footman) is throwing a little bit now, and he’s going to be a game-time decision,” McNair said. “We’re working both of them at that spot (in practice), and we won’t know who will be at the helm until (today) when we make that decision.”

In Footman’s absence, Johnson has more than filled the void. The redshirt freshman has tallied 21 total touchdowns for the season, including throwing for seven scores in a Nov. 12 61-7 walloping of Mississippi Valley State. Johnson has passed for more than 1,000 yards this year and has proven equally effective on the ground with 451 yards rushing.

“Noah has done a great job,” McNair said. “He’s doing the things we ask of him to do, and he’s doing them well — in the passing game and in the running game with all the quarterback runs.”

While the Braves boast two capable playmakers at the quarterback positions, it’s been the Alcorn rushing attack that fueled the Braves offense all season long. ASU ranks 18th in the Football Championship Subdivision in rushing, and are fresh off a 293-yard outing against Jackson State. DeLance Turner led the charge in that game with 129 yards rushing. McNair said he also expects Arron Baker to return for today’s tilt.

“DeLance is a smart runner,” McNair said. “He knows everything — he knows the plays well. He’s just a heady guy. He’s strong. He’s not a very fast guy, but he’s athletic with a lot of power.

“Our running game is our strongest point right now, but we do have the strength to pass the ball, too.”

Defensively, the Braves will have their hands full in attempting to slow down GSU quarterback DeVante Kincade. The Ole Miss transfer was named the SWAC’s Offensive Player of the Year after leading the league in total offense (290.4 yards per game) and throwing for 28 touchdowns.

“The way he moves around, we have to contain him in the pocket,” McNair said. “We have to make him as uncomfortable as we can. We have to get around him and force him to throw some balls up, but he’s a sharp guy.”