It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what LSU plans to do in this weekend’s non-conference matchup with Western Kentucky.

However, doing something about it might prove a little more of a challenge for the Hilltoppers.

The undefeated Tigers (6-0), who are led by Heisman Trophy candidate Leonard Fournette, rank 4th nationally and are tops in the SEC in rushing offense with a robust average of 325.5 yards rushing per game. Fournette, a sophomore tailback whose dazzling blend of speed and power has made him the talk of the nation, has already chewed up a national-best 1,202 yards and 14 touchdowns in just six games.

WKU coach Jeff Brohm called him “the real deal.”

“Without question, he’s the best running back in the country,” the coach said Monday during his weekly press conference. “But, from all the things I’ve read, he seems like a great young man. So, all those qualities I think are exactly what you look for in a Heisman Trophy candidate. He’s a guy that, yeah, we’re going to have to try to take away what they do well, which is run the football. We have been decent against running teams. Now, this is a different breed. And this guy is going to be hard to tackle. So we’re going to have to find different ways to tackle him and bring him down.”

Western Kentucky (6-1), which ranks 77th nationally in run defense at just under 173 yards allowed per game, struggled against a pretty good running back it faced earlier this season. Indiana’s Jordan Howard torched the Hilltoppers for 203 yards rushing on 31 carries as the Hoosiers won 38-35 on Sept. 19 to account for WKU’s only loss of the season.

But the Hilltoppers figure to have their hands full like never before in trying to slow down Fournette in Death Valley.

“The defense is excited,” Hilltoppers defensive end Gavin Rocker said this week. You know it’s always fun to go against a good running back like we did at Indiana. We understand that he’s a big, strong, physical and fast guy, so we have to definitely make sure that we play smart and also play aggressive.”

Fournette became the quickest player in SEC annals to eclipse the 1,000-yard plateau and joined just 11 others nationally to have done so just five games into the season.

Fournette is aiming to join some elite company of running backs in Marcus Allen (USC, 1981), Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988) and Ed Marinaro (Cornell, 1971) who averaged at least 200 yards rushing per game over the course of an entire season. Both Allen and Sanders won the Heisman Trophy in those respective seasons, while Marinaro finished 2nd to Auburn quarterback Pat Sullivan in 1971.