After trolling in the darkness of five losses in the first seven games of the season, senior defensive lineman Dan Cline and the rest of the Toppers are ready to see the Sun.

The Sun Belt Conference that is.

“Going into the Sun Belt stretch, we’re ready to play people that we’re going to play year in and year out,” Cline said. “We’re looking forward to the different Sun Belt opponents and going different places and playing there. Just kind of laying the foundation for our role in the Sun Belt in the future.”

Western begins play in the Sun Belt this season with a game against Florida Atlantic on Saturday. While the Toppers don’t officially become members of the conference until the 2009 season, their five opponents against Sun Belt opponents are the most opponents Western has ever faced in a season.

Western and Florida Atlantic enter into this game with similar seasons so far.

The Owls are the defending Sun Belt conference co-champions, along with Troy. They received an invitation to the 2007 New Orleans Bowl against Memphis. Their 44-27 win against the Tigers made them the youngest Football Bowl Subdivision program to ever win a bowl game.

Despite last season’s success, FAU’s first six games have almost all ended in losses.

FAU has played two ranked opponents so far this season, Texas and Michigan State. Texas is the top team in the country in several polls, while Michigan is ranked in the top 20.

Western has also had its share of ranked opponents in previous games this season. Its week three opponent, Alabama, is currently ranked second in the nation.

And for the last two weeks, the team has played ranked opponents in Virginia Tech and Ball State.

Wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator T.J. Weist said that the Toppers aren’t judging the Owls by their current record.

“They’ve been like us,” Weist said. “Look at the schedule they’ve played. They’ve played a brutal schedule. They’ve played the number one team in the country. You look at their schedule; it’s very comparable to us. We’re not fooled by their record.”

Coach David Elson also said that the Sun Belt portion of Western’s schedule would be vital for completion of several team goals.

Two goals the Toppers set for themselves in the preseason were to have their 13th consecutive winning season and to have a winning record in Sun Belt play.

Based on their current 2-5 record, Western would have to win all five Sun Belt games to achieve a winning record this season.

“We’re at a point where those two goals are going hand-in-hand,” Elson said. “We have to run the table to be able to do that. All focus has to be on this game. I think it’s going to be a fun game to watch because you’re going to have two teams that have some things on the line and are going to be playing hard.”

Western begins Sun Belt play at 6 p.m. Saturday at Smith Stadium.

Reach Chris Acree at sports@chherald.com.