U ndefeated and ranked No. 3 in the nation, the Aggies of Texas A&M (7-0, 4-0) travel to Tiger Stadium to take on what has to be a desperate, 20th-ranked LSU (5-2, 2-2) team Saturday night.

Here are the five things to watch as Texas A&M prepares for its conference matchup against LSU in Week 9:

LSU linebacker Whit Weeks' status for Saturday night against the Texas A&M Aggies remains in jeopardy ahead of a Top-25 SEC matchup against the Texas A&M Aggies

LSU football will start a freshman left tackle in place of the injured Tyree Adams. Our LSU football coverage is brought to you in part by The Baton Rouge Clinic.

Expect Kelly’s team to lean on its defense again, but this is a prime matchup for Nussmeier and the offense. Elko has been a defensive-minded coach his entire career, but this Texas A&M team might be the softest defense LSU has faced all year.

F or years, the Texas A&M Aggies and LSU Tigers met each other annually on rivalry weekend. Granted, that was mostly due to Texas A&M not having Texas to play on Thanksgiving weekend - and the SEC moving LSU's traditional end-of-season game against Arkansas to the middle of the season - but regardless of semantics, this has been a very fun rivalry.

The SEC boasts another heavyweight top 25 matchup this week as the No. 3 Texas A&M Aggies visit Death Valley to take on the No. 20 LSU Tigers. We'll either see the conference's race to the championship game get clearer as the Aggies inch closer to locking in a spot and LSU is eliminated,