HOUSTON — Ckelby Givens has seen Southern when it’s riding high to a Southwestern Athletic Conference championship berth in 2024.

The graduate student star was also part of the program last year when it had an unexpected two-win season.

What Givens, who returned from injury after missing two games, knows is that the players feeling sorry for themselves isn’t the answer after a 24-21 loss to Texas Southern on Saturday at Reliant Stadium.

“My biggest thing is that you got to stay positive, but you got to lead by example,” said the defensive end who finished with six tackles. “So that's the thing that I'm going to try to do.”

Southern (3-5, 1-3 SWAC) couldn’t keep its opponent from field goal range on its last defensive stand. Texas Southern (2-5, 1-3 SWAC) marched 36 yards and watched freshman kicker Miguel Arana drain a 46-yard field goal as time expired.

Southern junior linebacker Tay James agreed that the players have to keep their spirits up after the Jaguars had their first contest of 2026 decided by single digits.

“Encourage them, pick each other up and stay by each other,” said the junior who had 10 tackles and two sacks.

The Jaguars’ untimely mishaps, such as a blocked first-quarter field goal and a third-quarter turnover, were more influential in the result than their ability to outgain Texas Southern by 54 yards, win the time-of-possession battle by about 7 minutes and have 87 fewer penalty yards.

Southern coach Marshall Faulk had no issue with the balance in run and pass plays, throwing 18 passes and running 48 times. Trey Holly had 156 yards rushing and a touchdown on 35 carries.

“We run the football,” the rookie coach said. “That's what we do. We got a couple of the best backs in conference, and Trey Holly might be the best back in conference, and we lean on that. We love what our offensive line brings to the table, and we love playing the physical style of play.”

Faulk said that the mistakes made still don’t overshadow the positive he takes from this game.

His team fought back and gave itself a chance, unlike three weeks ago when it lost 41-10 to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at homecoming.

Southern trailed 21-7 after Texas Southern quarterback Cam'Ron McCoy, a Southern transfer, faked a toss and sprinted 41 yards himself to the end zone. Three plays before that touchdown, Jaguars quarterback Christian Johnson — who went 11-of-18 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns — had the lone turnover of the game. The junior was strip-sacked, and Texas Southern recovered the fumble.

Southern’s staff wished the turnover and touchdown it gave up didn’t happen. However, they’re glad that players played inspired and didn’t allow Texas Southern’s lead to balloon from that point forward. It instead counter-punched with back-to-back touchdowns.

“I'm always looking for bright spots,” Faulk said. “Early in the year when we lost momentum, it was a boat race. It was hard to get it back. But in this game, we found ways to get momentum back, and we found ways to continue to compete, and we got ourselves back in the game. That's what I'm most proud of … I'm hanging my hat on the growth of where we're at now.”

Holly gave the player perspective when Southern fell behind by 14 points.

“I mean, it was really big,” Holly said of the turnover that led to Texas Southern's touchdown. “At the end of the day, we still had a chance, so we put that behind us. We still had a chance to go out and win it.”

Faulk is glad to hear the “proper mindset.” That outlook will have to continue when Southern plays a third straight road game against Florida A&M (2-6, 1-3) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Florida.