Seniors get one final home game

BOCA RATON — At the beginning of the season, most of the Florida Atlantic seniors thought Saturday’s game against Florida International would be the final home game of their careers.

But now that the Owls have clinched a berth in the Conference USA championship game, they will have one more opportunity to play in the front of the home crowd. They will play North Texas for the title Dec. 2 at FAU Stadium.

Although Conference USA is tied in with the Boca Raton Bowl, the chances of it choosing FAU are slim. The seniors are simply looking forward to being part of history in their final home game.

“If I look for it to end, my time is going to expire faster,” senior running back Gregory Howell Jr. said. “I kind of just want to enjoy this moment. I’m taking it game by game.”

The Owls are playing in a league championship for the first time in school history. They won the Sun Belt regular season championship in 2007 but did not play in a title game.

“It’s something that hasn’t happened,” linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said. “Hopefully we draw a really big crowd and get some home-field advantage with that. Right now, we enjoy it but Charlotte is on the clock.”

The Owls are looking at it as opportunity to further enhance their brand. Coach Lane Kiffin said it could help recruiting and continue to improve the fan base. Saturday night’s crowd of 24,116 was the largest of the season since the opener against Navy.

“Just getting to the conference championship is a big deal but being able to host is really big,” quarterback Jason Driskel said.

Next game:

WTCN FAU at Charlotte, Saturday, 2 p.m., ESPN3,