A career-long 40-yard field goal two states away opened the door for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to win the Conference USA East championship.

Rice University kicker Clark Fangmeir’s game-winning field goal with 3 seconds to play gave the Owls an 18-17 win over East Carolina. With Southern Miss’ victory over Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday night, the Golden Eagles are in position to win the division with a victory over Marshall this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Hattiesburg.

&#8220It didn’t matter what would have happened in that ball game, we were ready to play,” Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. &#8220We were probably a little more excited when we heard the score, but the team was ready to go.”

The Golden Eagles will face a Thundering Herd team that is coming off a 49-21 thumping of Texas-El Paso. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw ran for 261 yards and five touchdowns as the Herd came within a victory of becoming bowl eligible.

&#8220This is it bowl eligibility,” Marshall coach Mark Snyder said after his team’s win. &#8220I’m very excited. I know our players are very excited. The locker room, there’s some life in there.

&#8220We’re going to play a really good Southern Miss team at a very hard place to play. You get as your work deserves. If we deserve to go to a bowl game we’ll go down to Hattiesburg and win.”

Southern Miss defeated Marshall 27-24 last season and has won three straight since a loss to East Carolina.

&#8220I thought we played with good effort and intensity,” Bower said. &#8220It was a good win for our football team, and I think we got ourselves into a bowl. It’s our 13th winning season in a row. We have an opportunity to take another step next week.”

Freshman running back Damion Fletcher ran for a game-high 163 yards on 27 carries. He is 62 yards from breaking Derrick Nix’s freshman rushing record of 1,150 yards. The flashy Fletcher from Biloxi will try to lead the Golden Eagles to their first appearance in the conference championship game, which will be played in Houston between either the Golden Eagles or East Carolina against host Houston.

The victory over UAB was the 110th in Bower’s Southern Miss tenure and the Eagles recorded their 13th straight winning season. Only Florida, Florida State, Michigan and Virginia Tech have accomplished such a feat over that time.