Perhaps the only team on the 2008 football schedule an Illini fan would know nothing about is the Ragin’ Cajuns from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.

With an enrollment of 17,000, UL-Lafayette is just 35 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico – right in the heart of hurricane territory. But even with the threat of natural disaster looming, head coach Ron Zook believes the Cajuns will be ready to rage on Saturday.

“We have a good football team coming in here this week,” Zook said on Wednesday. “A football team that can move the football and can really attack some of the things we’ve had problems with so far this year. It’s going to be a great test for our defense, and surely will be a great test for our offense as well.”

The great test for the Illini defense will come from senior quarterback Michael Desormeaux and senior running back Tyrell Fenroy. Both are Louisiana natives and have made statements in the Sun Belt Conference.

Desormeaux not only has a left-handed cannon and a solid 220-pound frame, he is also a bright student-athlete with a 4.0 grade point average in Social Studies Education last school year.

“Big, strong, fast, smart guy,” Zook said, characterizing the quarterback. “There’s like five or six quarterbacks of Division I who are 4.0 point students, and he’s one of them.”

Desormeaux’s right-hand-man Fenroy has also made a name and is currently ranked second on the NCAA’s career rushing leaders list for active running backs. During his career at ULL, Fenroy has accumulated 3,327 total yards on the ground and has his sights set on being only the seventh running back in NCAA history to record four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

ULL’s offense resembles the No. 24 Illini’s, and the match-up will give Illinois’ run defense another chance. After two weeks of less-than-stellar tackling, the Orange and Blue will focus on stopping ULL’s run game.

And their opponents will do the same.

“They do a great job spreading the ball around,” Ragin’ Cajuns head coach Rickey Bustle said. “I think tempo is the biggest thing we need to contend with. We have some film on them and that gives us an idea of what they like to do and what formations they like to run. We just need to be ready for that.”

Bustle and company are coming off of their bye week, but are still hurting from their 51-21 loss to Southern Miss in the first game of the season. The game was played in the midst of Hurricane Gustav hitting Louisiana.

Though weather was a huge emotional factor, Bustle believed his team “just didn’t play well.”

Having lived in the south prior to coming to the Midwest, Zook can empathize with the Ragin’ Cajun team.

“It’s unsettling because not only do you have it where your practices and so forth get screwed up, but most of their football team is from Louisiana, so they got their families and stuff they’re worried about it,” Zook said.

But before the Illini can worry about anyone else, it has to worry about itself.

Offensive coordinator Michael Locksley agreed, saying Illinois has been “focusing on us” during practice this week, but knows Saturday’s game will be important.

“I think our guys are excited about the challenge and this will be a challenge,” Zook said.