RICHMOND — With the memories of last year’s disappointing finish still fresh in their minds, the Colonels are well aware of just how important it could be to start this season off on a positive note.

So, it should come as no surprise that there’s a heightened sense of urgency surrounding today’s season-opening showdown with Missouri State.

“This is a critical game for us, especially with the year we had last year,” third-year Eastern Kentucky University coach Dean Hood said.

Indeed.

The Colonels will look to snap a three-game skid and a long non-conference road losing streak when they take on Missouri State today in Springfield, Mo., in the season opener for both teams.

Game time is set for 7 p.m.

The Colonels lost four of their final five games last season and finished with a non-winning record for the first time in 32 years.

EKU still finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference, failing just one game short of the title, but failed to make the playoffs for first time since 2006.

Ultimately, it was a disappointing season for one of the most successful Football Championship Subdivision programs in the country.

“The expectations are high (for our program every year) and they should be,” Hood said.

The path back to the playoffs and to another OVC title begins with three tough road contests. After taking on Missouri State, the Colonels are set to face Louisville and Chattanooga.

EKU has not won a non-conference game on the road since 2002 (an overtime win over Liberty) and has lost nine-straight season openers.

“We’ve got to win a game like this,” Hood said of season opener at Missouri State.

It certainly won’t be easy.

Missouri State returns 17 starters and 20 seniors from a team that went 6-5 last season, including a 4-4 mark in the always tough Missouri Valley Conference.

The Bears are led by senior quarterback Cody Kirby, who is on pace to shatter every school passing record, and senior linebacker Antonie Wilkinson, an All-American candidate.

“They are scary,” Hood said of Missouri State. “Coach Terry Allen is a proven winner at several different places and now he’s in year five (at Missouri State) and they’re turning the corner. When you look at the depth chart and you see a senior backed up by a senior, you know he’s done it right.”

Allen spent eight seasons (1989-1996) as the head coach at MVC powerhouse Northern Iowa before taking over the program at Kansas (1997-2001, 20-33 record).

In four seasons at Missouri State, Allen has guided the Bears to a 18-26 record and has slowly started to turn a once struggling program around.

MSU had just two Missouri Valley Conference victories in 2007, three in 2008 and then had four last season.

The Bears have not won a conference championship since 1978 or made an appearance in the FCS Playoffs since 1990, but the players and the coaching staff believe the program is headed in the right direction.

“We’ve been progressing every year,” Allen said. “We feel like we’ve got guys in place who have experience. We are confident. We think we can take the steps (we need to) win the close football games we didn’t win last year.”

The Colonels, of course, have the same goal.

They may have to start the season without one of their best all-around players, however. Junior defensive back/kick returner Jeremy Caldwell recently had sports hernia surgery and will likely not play today against the Bears.

“Unfortunately, we probably won’t have him (for the opener),” Hood said. “We will play it by ear, but it will probably be a game-time decision. If I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of not playing him. But he will definitely be back for the next one.”

Caldwell tied for fourth nationally (among FCS players) last season with seven interceptions. He was recently named to the initial 2010 Buck Buchanan Award list, an award which is given annually to the nation’s top FCS defensive player.