At this point, Jesse Burleson is ready to hire a full-time assistant whose only job will be to schedule games for Hardin-Simmons. At the time of publication, the Cowboys are scheduled to host Albright in a special Friday night game on Sept. 1. HSU will travel to play Wisconsin-LaCrosse in Week 2, which leaves the Cowboys needing to add one more game.

The Cowboys gave Trinity all it could handle in the first round of the playoffs last year and hope their schedule will help them attain another playoff berth in 2023. HSU will have some new faces at wide receiver, along with three new starters on defense. However, Burleson and his staff have built amazing depth on the roster, and the Cowboys will have plenty of talent on the field this year to compete for a playoff spot. Whether that spot is an automatic or at-large berth will be decided when they host UMHB at the end of October.