Locked In, Not Locked Out: Texas Southern Visits Prairie View for 41st Labor Day Classic

Texas Southern travels to Prairie View, Texas, on Sunday for the 41st annual Labor Day Classic, a Southwestern Athletic Conference rivalry dating back to 1985 that both coaches say has nothing to do with festivities and everything to do with football. Kickoff at Panther Stadium is set for 11 a.m. Central, with the game airing nationally on ESPN2 and on the radio at KTSU 90.9 FM.

Texas Southern (1-0) enters off a 42-30 comeback win over North Carolina Central, while Prairie View A&M (0-1) is coming off a 49-30 loss at Tarleton State, a top-five team in the FCS. Both coaches spent their weekly SWAC media calls saying much the same thing in different words: the classic’s history and surrounding events do not matter nearly as much as which 11 players take the field on Sunday.

What is at stake

Beyond the rivalry itself, the winner moves to 1-0 in the SWAC West and gains an early edge in a division that has historically come down to the wire. Prairie View head coach Tremaine Jackson, who has coached in this game from both sidelines, put it plainly on the coaches’ call: “This could very well be for the Western Division Championship. It was last year. Whoever wins is going to be one and zero in the West and be able to sit back for a while and let other people fight it out before we get back in conference play.”

The traveling Nicks-Durley Trophy, named for legendary head coaches at both schools, is also on the line. It returned to Houston in 2024 for the first time since 2014, when Cris Dishman won his Labor Day Classic debut as TSU’s head coach, 27-9. Prairie View took it back a year later, winning 22-21 in the final seconds at Shell Energy Stadium. Texas Southern holds a 21-19 edge in the classic series since 1985 and a 42-37-1 lead in the all-time series, but Prairie View has won 16 of the last 20 meetings since 2004.

Texas Southern coming off a second-half turnaround

Texas Southern trailed North Carolina Central 24-14 at halftime in its opener before scoring 28 unanswered points, including 21 in the third quarter, to escape W.W. Thorne Stadium with a 42-30 win. The Tigers finished with 462 yards of total offense, 277 of it on the ground on just 36 carries.

Senior running back Athean Renfro Jr. was named the SWAC’s Offensive Player of the Week after carrying 18 times for 163 yards and a touchdown, including a 45-yard run. Quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy completed 8 of 19 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to JaQuan McGee, who finished with 115 receiving yards on four catches. Texas Southern also got a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Jordan Thompson, part of a defense that recorded four sacks.

Dishman said the turnaround came from within the locker room at halftime, not from any adjustment he made. “Our guys did most of the talking,” he said. “Offense pumped up defense. Defense pumped up offense. Our specialist was in there pumping off. These guys was ready to play. They just didn’t have a good showing the first half. Once you settle down and let your natural ability come out and play, then you can do great things.”

Dishman said he wants to see the same run-heavy approach carry into Sunday. “I believe in running the football,” he said. “I’m a defensive mind in person, but if you run the football, play good defense on third down, win the penalty battle, you should win a lot of games.” He also praised McCoy’s preparation habits, saying the quarterback came into the opener “very hungry” and needs to keep “pulling himself, not just to everyone else, but to himself.”

Prairie View looks to clean up after a physical loss

Prairie View’s box score from Stephenville, Texas, does not look like a team that lost by 19 points. The Panthers put up 519 yards of total offense and did not turn the ball over, but nine penalties for 79 yards helped turn a game they were competitive in into a loss. Jackson said his team had a chance to tie the score in the third quarter before a penalty “spiraled” the game away from them.

Quarterback Tevin Carter threw for more than 300 yards and ran for over 100 more. “I thought he got off to a good start,” Jackson said. “Tevin’s in meetings right now, trying to find a way to get better, and that’s why he’s the quarterback, because he rallied the team and found ways to get himself prepared in a way like nobody else.” Jackson also credited backup Caden Smith for stepping in for several plays and playing well.

Jackson pointed to tackling and gap discipline as the fix his defense needs by Sunday. “We had some alignment assignment issues that led to bad tackling, bad leverage, and so we got to get those things cleaned up,” he said. On offense, he wants to stop giving away drives: “We just got to continue to execute and don’t let penalties be drive killers.” He did point to one clear positive: zero turnovers against a Tarleton State team that led the FCS in takeaways a season ago. “You achieve what you emphasize,” Jackson said of an offseason spent drilling ball security.

The Renfro problem

Both coaches spent real time on Texas Southern’s Renfro, and Jackson does not need game film to know what he is dealing with. Prairie View associate head coach Darrell Colbert coached Renfro in high school. “He’s a really good player,” Jackson said. “Coach Colbert, our receiver coach, associate head coach, was his high school coach. So we know what we’re up against, and he did a really good job last year as a younger guy. Now you’ve seen him coming to his own, and we got our hands full with him this week.”

Jackson’s plan for containing him is built around fundamentals rather than scheme. “You got to fit your gaps, build a wall, and tackle,” he said. “Stopping the run is like building a house. It’s brick, mortar, brick. If you ever see a house that goes brick, brick, with no mortar in between, it won’t pass inspection. If we don’t do that, then he’s going to find the gap, and it’s like an open-ended funnel. Once he gets through the little hole, it turns into a big hole later on, and that’s when you get explosive runs.”

Jackson also singled out Texas Southern’s passing game as a concern, describing “a really tall option at receiver” who can win jump balls, a nod to a Tigers receiving corps that includes the 6-foot-5 McGee, who caught two of McCoy’s touchdown passes in the opener. He credited Texas Southern’s defense with playing fast regardless of scheme: “I see guys playing with high levels of enthusiasm and running to the football, and to me, that’s the recipe for a really good defense.”

Familiar faces on both sidelines

Jackson knows Texas Southern from the inside. He was a Tigers student-athlete from 2002-03 and a TSU assistant coach from 2008-11 before taking over at Prairie View. His current staff includes two more former TSU players, Trent Earley and Colbert, as well as former TSU coach Darren Garrigan. On the other side, Texas Southern’s new athletic director, Ashley Robinson, who arrived in Houston in August, spent 2013-2018 as Prairie View’s athletic director.

Both coaches downplayed any extra motivation from the crossover ties or from last year’s finish. Jackson instead pointed to a mentality he says defines the program regardless of the opponent. “The only people that can beat the Prairie View A&M Panthers are the Prairie View A&M Panthers,” he said. “We respect all our opponents, but we know that the biggest opponent we got to beat is ourselves.” He tied that back to the program’s mantra, DOG, for discipline, obedience, and grit. “You turn dog around, it spells God, because that’s who’s in the center of it all for us.”

Dishman, for his part, said he has stopped letting the opponent or the surrounding event dictate his focus. “Sometimes as coaches you get caught up in other teams, thinking about the other team, and not worrying about your players,” he said. “This year, I decided to worry about my players. Worry about putting the best 11 guys out there who can help us win the game.”

Why it is on national television

Sunday’s game is Texas Southern’s lone regular season appearance on ESPN2, and Dishman was direct about what that means for a program that does not always get the same look as its SWAC peers. “Anytime you get on ESPN or get on television, showcase the talent that you have,” he said. “A lot of times your scouts, they jump over Texas Southern, and coming from the University of Houston, they jump over Texas Southern and go somewhere else. So anytime that we can get our guys on TV, I’m very excited about it.”