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Southern Mississippi sees hosting first FBS game of season as 'huge opportunity'

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Leave it to Southern Mississsippi football coach Jay Hopson to sum up 2020 with a front-runner for understatement of the century.

"It's been a different spring," Hopson said. "It's been a different summer. This year everything has been different. u200bu200bu200bu200bu200bu200b"

However understated he may be, Hopson is right. 2020 has been different. Nearly six months after the spread of novel coronavirus led to the World Health Organization declaring a global pandemic, life as we know it still isn't normal. And there's no indication when that normalcy might come.

But on Thursday night, Hopson's Southern Miss team has the opportunity to be a beacon of hope.