BATON ROUGE - Some may think of non-playoff bowl games as glorified exhibitions or practices. However, that's not the mindset of the LSU Football team ahead of the Kinder's Texas Bowl on New Year's Eve.

The Tigers are preparing to take on former LSU defensive coordinator, Dave Aranda, and his Baylor Bears in Houston at the end of the month.

However, this team will look different than the one that faced Oklahoma at the end of the regular season.

The Tigers have lost over a dozen players to the transfer portal within the last month, and they've also had a handful of players opt out of the bowl game to declare and prepare for the upcoming NFL Draft.

They are not letting that hinder their chances at ending the 2024 season with a win.

LSU played in the Texas Bowl to close out the 2021 season. Then, quarterback Garrett Nussmeier chose not to play in order to qualify for a redshirt year. 

Now, Nussmeier will end his first year as a starter in Houston and has already announced that he will return for a final year of football in 2025.

While returning to NRG Stadium may be a little nostalgic, Nussmeier knows there is business to handle.

"It's all full circle for sure. You know, obviously, it's not where we want to be, but, you know, we get an opportunity to play a football game and get another opportunity to play football with my teammates and wear the purple and gold. So at the end of the day, that's all that matters," Nussmeier said.

Everyone that decided to play in the bowl game is taking it seriously, especially the players that are returning next season. They are trying to end this underwhelming season on a high note.

"If you win this game, you're going to feel good for eight months. If you lose this game, you're having a sour taste in your mouth for eight months. Which, I mean, nobody wants that. So I mean, we're coming. We're not coming to just play around like we're coming to play football, play LSU football," linebacker Whit Weeks said.

LSU is set to face Baylor at NRG Stadium in Houston on Dec. 31 at 2:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.