There’s no place like home.
The timeless adage echoes the feeling throughout LSU’s locker room as the football team prepares for its home opener against Northwestern State on Saturday.
The Tigers haven’t taken the field under the lights in Tiger Stadium since Nov. 13, 2010 against Louisiana-Monroe, and smiles grew across their faces as they reminisced on Saturday nights in Death Valley.
“I really can’t wait,” said senior offensive lineman T-Bob Hebert. “It’s electric. It feels like you’ve got 94,000 of your best friends cheering you on. The fans and the atmosphere is something I get goosebumps just thinking Stadium.”
With last week’s clash against Oregon counting as one of LSU’s home games, the Tigers have a slightly lighter load this year at home, with only six games slated in Tiger Stadium.
Senior tight end Mitch Joseph said with the shortened schedule, the team needs to take advantage of every game.
“We only have six so it’s a lot less than what we usually have so we’ve got to make the best of it,” Joseph said. “It’s going to be fun, especially since it’s my senior year. It’s going to be one to life.”
Despite the legend that it never rains in Tiger Stadium, sophomore defensive end Barkevious Mingo recalled his first experience on a soggy day in Death Valley in 2007, when then-No. 2 LSU topped then-No. 12 South Carolina, 28-16.
“It actually rained that day, but it was the craziest game I’ve ever been to,” Mingo recalled. “It was so loud and it’s just a fun thing to be involved in. I don’t know whats better — being on the field or being in the there.”
With just three days until the Tigers take the field for the first time in 2011, Hebert left a message for those yet to witness a night under the lights.
“There’s no greater place to play,” Hebert said. “It’s almost indescribable, you can’t really put it into words. It’s something you have to experience for

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BRIANNA PACIORKA / The Daily Reveille

Fans in the student section show off their school spirit for an ESPN camera before the West Virginia game Saturday, Sept. 25, 2010, in Tiger Stadium.