Kennesaw State's defending Conference USA champions hit the stage in Arlington, Texas, during the July 19–21 CUSA Football Kickoff, and linebacker Baron Hopson set the tone for the preseason.

"What happened last year wasn't a fluke," Hopson said Monday, July 20, at Texas Live! in Arlington.

Hopson, a graduate linebacker named CUSA Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, joined head coach Jerry Mack and redshirt junior offensive lineman Nikola Milovac at the league's annual media event. The three represented a program that won the CUSA championship in just its second year in the conference, beating Jacksonville State 19-15 on Dec. 5, 2025, and finishing 10-4 overall after a bowl loss to Western Michigan.

Mack, who turned down the Tulane head coaching job in December 2025 to stay in Kennesaw, kept his media-day message simple. Asked how the program retained Hopson rather than losing him to the transfer portal, Mack offered a one-word answer at his Tuesday, July 21, press conference: "Relationships."

That retention matters. Mack has acknowledged the roster churn facing programs at this level, telling the AP in a spring 2026 interview that he signed almost 40 new players and turned over roughly a third of the roster heading into the season.

Milovac, who appeared on the CUSA Insider Podcast on Monday, July 20, said the offseason conditioning program has the roster ready for September.

Home schedule and tickets

For East Cobb families who fill Fifth Third Stadium on fall weekends, the 2026 home slate offers six games:

  • Thursday, Sept. 3 — West Georgia (season opener)
  • Saturday, Sept. 12 — Georgia State
  • Wednesday, Oct. 7 — Jacksonville State (CUSA)
  • Thursday, Oct. 22 — Liberty (CUSA)
  • Saturday, Nov. 7 — Delaware (CUSA)
  • Saturday, Nov. 21 — FIU (CUSA)

The Owls also travel to Neyland Stadium to face Tennessee on Saturday, Sept. 19. Mack coached running backs there from 2021 to 2023 under Josh Heupel before taking the KSU job.

Season tickets start at $125, according to KSU Athletics.

The season opener against West Georgia at Fifth Third Stadium in Kennesaw is set for Thursday, Sept. 3.