The last time the Troy Trojans and the Florida Atlantic Owls met was Dec. 1 of last year and the Owls walked away from Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium with a 38-32 victory and a trip to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

The trip to New Orleans and the postseason is not yet in jeopardy for either team, but the Trojans will be looking for revenge for last year’s loss when the clash with the Owls tonight at 7 p.m. on ESPN2 from Boca Raton, Fla.

“We had our heads down after that FAU game last year,” Troy sophomore tailback DuJuan Harris said. “We definitely made a comeback in that game, since we only lost by six after being down so much heading into the fourth, but this is definitely a rivalry game. We want to get a little payback from last year.”

Senior offensive lineman Chris Jamison is ready to get revenge on FAU.

“I don’t want to give them any bulletin board material, but we felt we should have won last year’s game,” Jamison said. “They came in and they beat us fair and square and whooped us on our home field, but that is something we didn’t forget and they know we are not going to forget. So revenge is going to be a factor in this game.”

Harris said it is important for the Trojans to jump out to an early lead on the Owls.

“We, as an offense, have to get it up quick,” Harris said. “I just look at it as ‘If my name is called, I will do the best I can to help the team out. And if not then I hope someone else steps up.’”

Jamison hopes the long break between games will be beneficial for the Trojans.

“It gives us some extra time to look at FAU,” Jamison said. “They play(ed) Middle Tennessee Tuesday and I think it also gives us some time to rest.

Troy has not seen the playing field for nine days, their second long stretch in between games this year.

When Hurricane Gustav hit Baton Rouge, La., the Trojans’ Sept. 6 matchup with the Bayou Bengals of LSU was postponed until Nov. 15. So the Trojans had a 15-day layoff from their season opener Aug. 28 until their home opener Sept. 13.

According to head coach Larry Blakeney, the rest will be good for Troy.

“We need some rest,” he said. “We looked tired across the board at halftime last week. This was not necessarily on offense, but on defense because they were the ones getting challenged physically on every snap.”

Junior linebacker Bear Woods is ready to clip the Owls.

“It is going to be a heckuva football game and we will use every second of every day to prepare for them,” Woods said. “It is a big-time conference game and you see every Saturday conference to conference that it doesn’t matter what your record is or what your ranking is when it comes to a conference game. A conference game is as big as any game on your schedule.”