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BATON ROUGE, La. -- Les Miles enters his 12th season at LSU with one of the most experienced teams of his tenure, including Heisman Trophy hopeful Leonard Fournette.Now LSUs upperclassmen must produce or face the prospect of precipitating the end of the Miles era on the bayou. After all, expectations at LSU run as high as Death Valley is loud, and it has been four seasons since the Tigers earned a berth to the Southeastern Conference championship game.Optimism oozes from junior quarterback Brandon Harris as he explains how having a slew of leaders among the 17 returning players who started much of last season could propel LSU back into contention for SEC and national titles.We have such a great group of guys, great leaders in each of those (position) rooms, guys that have played a lot of football, Harris said. All those guys are really working hard in the leadership role. Were able to motivate guys. ... Guys want to get out and compete.A three-game, late-season losing streak that began with a fifth-straight loss to rival Alabama derailed the Tigers hopes for a return to SEC supremacy and spawned rampant speculation that Miles would not make it through the season. His status wasnt confirmed until after a victory over Texas A&M in LSUs regular season finale in Tiger Stadium.The Tigers then beat Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl, finishing with a 9-3 record, and LSU headed into the offseason eager to see how much better it could be with another year of maturity.Indeed, Miles said as fall camp approached that he expects the Tigers to be a very significant team.Here are some prominent story lines for LSU:FABULOUS FOURNETTE: LSUs star running back rushed for 1,953 yards and 22 touchdowns as a sophomore. He also had 19 catches for 253 yards and one touchdown receiving. However, a 31-yard performance at Alabama knocked him out of the running for the Heisman Trophy, eventually won by his Alabama counterpart, Derrick Henry. This year, LSU has a deep backfield and is striving for an improved passing game, meaning the Tigers wont necessarily expect Fournette to increase production overall, but still carry the offense through critical junctures.ARANDAS ARRIVAL: LSUs defense has its third coordinator in three seasons following the departure of Kevin Steele, who last season replaced John Chavis. Now Steele has moved on, replaced by Dave Aranda, who left Wisconsin to join Miles staff. The Tigers, whove long played with four down linemen, will now be in a 3-4 set that in some cases will allow more versatile players to line up in different spots, depending on the situation. So far, LSU defenders seem pleased by the opportunities Aranda will give them to explore their full potential. How well they execute in game situations remains to be seen.SEASON OPENER: The Tigers open against Wisconsin on Sept. 3 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This marks the second off-campus season opener between these teams since LSU narrowly came back to beat the Badgers, 28-24, in Houston in 2014. The game also pits Aranda against the team for which he coached the previous three seasons.KEY GAMES: For LSU, no game is bigger than Alabamas visit on Nov. 5. The Tigers have not beaten Nick Sabans Crimson Tide since the 2011 regular season. Other pivotal games include a visit to Florida on Oct. 8, a home date with Mississippi on Oct. 22 and a Nov. 12 visit to Arkansas, where the Tigers historically struggle.PREDICTION: LSU was a virtual 10-win team in 2015 with a younger squad and with Harris as a first-year starter. Now Harris has another offseason under coordinator and QB coach Cam Cameron, who plans to be on the sideline this season, rather than in the press box as he was for all of last season except for the Tigers lopsided bowl victory. With him on the sideline, being able to communicate with me, me being able to look over there and look at his eyes and see if were on the same page, its important, Harris said. If Harris improves on last seasons completion percentage of 53.8, LSU could contend for a College Football Playoff berth.---Online: AP College football website: www.collegefootball.ap.org Authentic NFL Jerseys Cheap . -- Vincent Lecavalier got everything but the desired result in his return to Tampa Bay. NFL Jerseys Outlet . A forerunning sled crashed into the worker Thursday at the Sanki Sliding Center. The unidentified worker broke both legs and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. http://www.cheapnfljerseys7.com/ . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. Stitched Nike NFL Jerseys . Wilson hit Schenn from behind during Tuesday nights game in Philadelphia, earning a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. He has a phone hearing with the department of player safety, which limits any potential suspension to five or fewer games. Cheap NFL Jerseys Store .J. -- Josh Cribbs was in the Pro Bowl in February and out of a job six months later. TORONTO -- Fourth line, really?Well, technically, yes.Joe Thornton, Ryan OReilly and Matt Duchene count a combined $20.25 million toward the salary cap for their NHL teams this season. But on this team, they are the fourth group of forwards. They are yet another reason Team Canada can win in a million different ways in this World Cup of Hockey, an absolute matchup nightmare that Europe is up next trying to defend Wednesday night (8 ET, ESPN2) with first place on the line in Group A.Obviously yeah, minutes-wise, were the fourth line, Duchene said after his two goals Tuesday night fueled Canadas dominating 4-2 win over Team USA. Were the fourth line in the rotation. But weve found some good chemistry and I think when you look at how deep our team is, its more like four first lines. Thats the way we want to carry ourselves. We dont want to limit our role and our ability because we are the fourth line. We want to play the game that we know how to play.Well, that was on full display in the win over the U.S., OReillys unit manhandling the Americans on many a shift.So if youre Europe head coach Ralph Krueger on Wednesday night and youre trying to figure out ways to stop lines centered by Sidney Crosby, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews, it stands to reason your fourth line likely ends up matched against Duchenes gang.Good luck with that.A lot of time we get the fourth-line matchups and I think were a skilled line as well, you saw Duchie have a big game tonight and playing phenomenal, said OReilly. But I think we can provide that extra wave, that relentless wave of puck possession, not just going out there and grinding but still making plays and wearing teams down by having the puck. Thats our goal and our mindset going into games.Canada has 10 goals in two games and it feels like it left some on the table. Theyve got the puck nearly all the time. The forecheck and cycle game has left the Czech Republic and U.S. gasping for air.OReilly was asked how he thought it might feel like for other teams to defend this four-line attack.I think were relentless, I think we have four lines that consistently find ways to create, said the Buffalo Sabres center. Having that, its got to be tough for any team to play against, he added rather matter-of-factly, not arrogantly.Team Canada head coach Mike Babcock indicated Claude Giroux likely will play his first game of the tournament Wednesday night. Thats right, one of the NHLs most prolific scorers the past five years gets to get out of the press box along with his $8.275 million cap hit on his NHL team and play a game.ddddddddddddMercy.Definitely thats going to be a different animal, Europe winger Marian Hossa said of facing Canada. Its the favored team to win this tournament. Its going to be a great measurement of where were at. Obviously, theyre huge favorites at home, so well try to surprise them.If Europe can pull off the upset, the best chance will come from Canada playing back-to-back games and having difficulty, perhaps, re-creating the kind of emotional engagement that comes so naturally against Team USA.Within 24 hours theyre going from playing a heated rival, which they knocked out of the tournament, to facing a team thats never existed before this tournament.Well, I think theres a lot of pride, were fighting with them for first place in the pool, so theres a lot riding on that, responded Team Canada forward John Tavares, when asked how they avoid a letdown against Europe. Its such a short tournament, you dont have many chances to make any mistakes or have any letdowns. I think theres great character in the locker room and great leadership, a lot of pride within our group to go out there and keep getting better as a team and individually. You know, youre playing for your country, these chances dont come around very often, so you make every game matter.Having already booked a ticket to the semifinals, first place in the pool is the carrot left for Canada. But in the bigger picture, its the idea thats constantly hammered home by Babcock of raising the teams game every step of the way so that it is at its highest level at the end. Its what happened in Vancouver and Sochi.Thing is, theyve come flying out of the gates. How much room is there to improve?Lots, if you believe Babcock.There were times tonight that I didnt think we were even close to being as good as were capable of being, Babcock said after the win over Team USA. But it was an opportunity to get better today, and now were set up to play more games in the tournament, which is real positive. And weve got to take some steps because we werent as good as were capable of being tonight.Sure, Team Canada was sloppy at times in the U.S. victory.But lets be serious here, the team that has won 12 consecutive games in best-on-best hockey, dating back to the Vancouver 2010 Games, is looking more dangerous than both versions of the squad that has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals.Really.Good luck, everyone. ' ' '