By Bryan Davis/The Enterprise-Tocsin

Jeff Tatum's Mississippi Delta Community College Trojans are going to be on the road for the first two weeks of 2018, and he couldn't be more pleased with the schedule. 

"We see that as a big positive," Tatum said on Monday morning. "We're kind of excited about opening the first two games on the road."

Tatum said he is looking forward to getting what will be a young Trojan football team off campus for the first two games as to eliminate as many distractions as possible for his squad. 

This year's opener will take place at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. 

The Bulldogs defeated MDCC in the 2017 matchup 52-20, but MGCCC has a new head coach in Jack Wright and a new defensive coordinator in Lytrel Pollard. 

Wright takes over a Gulf Coast program that won five games in 2017. 

The Batesville native previously coached at Northwest Community College, where he took a 1-8 program to national championship winners in just two seasons. 

Pollard comes to MGCCC from the University of Southern Mississippi, where he served as defensive backs coach and running backs coach, according to the Bulldogs' website. 

"They have a new coach," Tatum said. "They have a new defensive coordinator, so we're having to guess on what they're going to do, because they haven't been there." 

Tatum said he expects the Bulldog skill players to be as good as any out there, with multiple players returning.

LSU redshirt quarterback Lowell Narcisse also transferred to the Bulldog program, and Tatum said he looks for him to be a big playmaker. 

"We know they're going to be talented in the skill positions," Tatum said. 

Like MDCC, Tatum said Gulf Coast's offensive and defensive lines are young, and he hopes his team can exploit that youth tonight. 

As for the Trojans, Tatum is looking for his team to be aggressive, with more simplified offensive and defensive schemes. 

"We're a real young team," Tatum said. "We know they're going to make mistakes, but they are going to make them at full speed. We're going to let them play." 

The Trojans and Bulldogs will kickoff the season tonight at 7 p.m.