HATTIESBURG – The Southern Miss football team enjoyed another busy day Wednesday in preparation for its Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl appearance this Saturday.

The Golden Eagles got up bright and early and went through both team and position meetings before heading to Highland Park High School to practice for the second consecutive day.

Prior to practice, Southern Miss coach Todd Coach Monken, along with senior defensive back Kalan Reed and senior wide receiver Mike Thomas, participated in the pregame bowl media conference that was held at the Cotton Bowl.

In addition, several players also made visits to a local hospital, Our Children’s House, and more Golden Eagles attended the City Square Food Pantry. The cheerleaders also made a stop at the Dallas VA Hospital, which is the second largest VA facility in the country.

As far as practice, Southern Miss worked out for two hours in full pads to continue to get ready for their bowl game opponent, Pac-12 foe Washington.

For Golden Eagle coach Todd Monken, he and his team are excited about the game ahead of them and the ability to play in the historic Cotton Bowl.

“We wanted to play in this game for the obvious reasons, of the tradition of playing here, the history of it,” said Monken. “Our players understand that, understand where we’re playing. We’ll come over here and walk through tomorrow and get the bowl picture. And our guys will get a chance to really get a feel for that, and as we get further in the week, touch upon the history and tradition of this place.”

Thomas, who set a school single-season record 1,201 receiving yards this season, says that he and the Golden Eagles are happy to be in Dallas this week to get a chance to play another game.

“I’m thankful for the opportunity because not everybody gets to play in bowl games,” said Thomas. “It’s another opportunity to show what we can do. The team is ready. The team is excited. We’re just ready to play.”

After practice, the team took the 30-minute ride to AT&T Stadium in Arlington to get a tour of home of the Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s incredible to see one of the more state-of-the-art stadiums we have in the world,” said junior center Cameron Tom. “It’s a pretty incredible stadium.”

Southern Miss will take its team photo as well as utilize a walkthrough practice at the Cotton Bowl as part of its schedule on Thursday.

The Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Bowl takes place Saturday, Dec. 26, at 1:20 p.m.

Southern Miss Sports Information