Football: Cajuns fan Jaci Russo excited by chance to rekindle Tulane rivalry

Megan Wyatt, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 16, 2013

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Jaci Russo sports Ragin’ Cajuns apparel from a T-shirt and scarf to earrings and a necklace. / Megan Wyatt, The Advertiser

Jaci Russo has a message for anyone who dares to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns: Fear the Pepper.

“It’s now our war cry, our chant, our rally,” she said.

A senior partner in the Russo Group and a diehard Cajuns fan, Russo cannot wait for the University of Louisiana at Lafayette to take on Tulane University on Saturday.

She sees it as a chance not only for the Cajuns to snatch a third-straight post-season bowl victory but also as an opportunity to rekindle the rivalry between UL and Tulane.

“I think they have to realize we’re coming,” Russo said. “The New Orleans Bowl is ours. We won it the first year on a nail-biter, we won it the second year handily, and this year we’re coming back for more.”

Russo first began attending UL games in high school and later as a member of Phi Mu sorority while attending UL from 1988 to 1991.

She remembers when the stadium barely drew 5,000 Cajuns fans to each home game.

“It always warms my heart now when I see a full stadium even though they’ve got the game put away and we’re winning handily and there’s no doubt about the victory,” Russo said. “And yet people still sit out there, freezing their toes off to support them.”

Attending the New Orleans Bowl has become a kind of Christmas tradition for the Russo family.

“For me, it’s about that tradition of going to New Orleans and being with 30,000 fans walking down Poydras Street, celebrating our school.”