When Tre’Davious White decided to return for his senior season he was on a mission.

“I had a lot of goals that I wanted to accomplish,” White said. “I wanted to be All-SEC. All-American. I wanted to win the Thorpe. I wanted to win a national championship. I wanted to graduate.”

LSU entered the season No. 5 in the Associated Press Poll, and aspirations of reaching the College Football Playoff. But after 2-2 start and the firing of 12-year head coach Les Miles, those dreams were quickly shot down.

Despite missing out on winning the Jim Thorpe award or a national championship, White is still happy with his decision to come back to school.

His final game in an LSU jersey will be against Louisville’s Heisman trophy winning quarterback Lamar Jackson in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.

“Any time you get a chance like this it’s exciting,” White said. “It’s why you want to play football. You want to go against the best and right now he’s the best and I feel like we’re going to have a great game plan and go in there and try to get the win.”

After facing Ole Miss’ Chad Kelly, Alabama’s Jalen Hurts and Texas A&M’s Trevor Knight, Jackson is the next dual-threat signal caller LSU will face to close out its 2016 campaign. 

In his sophomore season, Jackson accounted for 4,928 total yards of offense and 51 total touchdowns.

From watching film, junior safety Jamal Adams lauded Jackson’s elusiveness, which at can times bring opportunities for big plays, or could catch LSU defenders out of position.

“That’s a kid that is like Michael Vick 2.0,” Adams said. “That’s a kid that has outstanding [running] ability, but he can also chunk it down the field.”

For LSU’s defensive backs, stopping Jackson begins with the eyes, Adams said.

“It was a play I seen on film against Kentucky,” Adams recalled. “He scrambled and he was under pressure, and he escaped from one defender and kept running for the first down. As a defensive back we don’t like running quarterbacks…that’s why our eyes are very important in this game.”

Defending Jackson isn’t the only concern for LSU’s defense.

The Cardinals, who averaged 45.3 points per game, have four receivers who have more than 500 yards receiving.
“They throw the ball around a lot,” said LSU sophomore cornerback Donte Jackson. “They have a great group of receivers. It should be fun. We’re a great secondary. They have a nice receiving core. It should be a good one to see.”

LSU’s bowl schedule:

Tuesday, Dec. 27 Practice (McClendon Practice Facility)

• LSU scheduled to depart for Orlando 2:45 p.m.
• LSU scheduled to arrive in Orlando at 6:15 p.m.
• Team Dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 28 Practice (Celebration High School)

• LSU at Disney World (Magic Kingdom) at 5 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 29 Practice (Celebration High School)

• Practice at 10:30 a.m.
• Off./Def. Coordinator/Ethan Pocic/Tre’Davious White press conference

Friday, Dec. 30  Walk-thru (Camping World Stadium)

• Ed Orgeron press conference at 11 a.m. 
• Kickoff luncheon (Hilton Orlando) at Noon 
• Walk-thru at 5:15 p.m.  

Saturday, Dec. 31 LSU vs. Louisville (Camping World Stadium) – 11 a.m. on ABC

• LSU departs hotel at 8:30 a.m.
• LSU arrives at stadium at 9 a.m.
• Kickoff at 11 a.m.