Kickoff is approaching as we are just over two months away from Liberty’s season opener on Aug. 31 against Campbell. It is a season that has been much anticipated with second year head coach Jamey Chadwell and the Flames looking to repeat as CUSA champions.

There are a few games that will help define Liberty’s 2024 season, here are our top four, in order of when they appear on the schedule:

Sept. 7 at New Mexico State

Liberty’s first game against a Division I FBS opponent comes during week two and it will be a long road trip for the Flames out to Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Aggies may have a lot of new pieces on their team, starting with a new head coach, but they will certainly have week two circled on their calendar in a game that will be a rematch of the 2023 CUSA Championship game. To have the sort of season the Flames hope to have, Liberty will need to get off to a good start early in the season.

Sept. 28 at Appalachian State

This is the most anticipated non-conference game the Flames have had in its first two years as a CUSA member. Liberty and Appalachian State may be one of the best non-conference games in all of the Group of Five this year and could serve as an elimination game for these two teams who expect to compete for their own respective conference championship.

Oct. 30 vs Jacksonville State

Many expect the CUSA title to be between three teams in Liberty, Jacksonville State, and Western Kentucky. The Flames will face the first of these opponents just ahead of Halloween on a Wednesday night in Lynchburg when the Jacksonville State Gamecocks come to town. Head coach Rich Rodriguez will have his team prepared to pull off the upset under the lights and test the Flames in what could be a CUSA championship game preview.

Nov. 23 vs Western Kentucky

In Liberty’s regular season home finale, the Flames play host to Western Kentucky, the first time the Hilltoppers will make the trip to Lynchburg to face Liberty as CUSA rivals. This could be a game with significant stakes on the line as we enter the final couple weeks of the regular season and the championship races begin to come into shape.