Trojan head coach Neal Brown’s message to the team on Sunday was “drown out the noise.”

Following Troy’s 28-24 win over the Appalachian State Mountaineers on Saturday afternoon, the Trojans became the first Sun Belt Conference team to be selected in the American Press Top 25 poll.

“I am proud of it (ranking). I think it is significant for our conference, for Troy University, for our athletic department,” Brown said. “My challenge to our team is to drown out the noise. It doesn’t change being in the Top 25. None of that changes our daily approach.”

The Trojans took on the Mountaineers on Saturday in the first of two critical games that will go a long way in determining this year’s conference champions. Jordan Chunn scored from 11-yards out with 1:02 remaining to give the Trojans the win.

“It was a huge win on Saturday against a very good team. I think they are as well coached as anyone in our league. I have a lot of respect for Coach Satterfield and his staff,” Brown said. “It was a great college football game with such a thin margin of winning and losing.”

The win for the Trojans improves their record to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in the conference, setting up a pivotal conference match up with Arkansas State on Thursday.

“It sets up an exciting opportunity for us,” Brown said. “It is a good opportunity to measure ourselves to what has been the premier program in the Sun Belt over the last five years.”

After a wild Saturday full of upsets, many of the Trojan faithful waited with anticipation to see if the Trojans were going to be included in the latest poll. On Sunday they were greeted with the news that Troy was ranked 25^th in the nation.

“It’s amazing,” said Troy native John Johnson. “It’s been a long time coming. It’s never been done in Sun Belt history, and of course it’s never been done in Troy history. It’s great to be able to bring that back to my community, a community that I grew up in. It’s amazing to be honest.”

Not only is it the first time that Troy has been ranked, they are also the first team in conference history to earn that distinction.

“I think it validates the improvement our league’s made,” Brown said. “Our league’s better, and this validates it. It just so happens we’re the first one. Our schedule is set up that way, but there’s been a lot of quality teams over the last several years.”

With local movements, such as #RankTroy in full effect, the excitement of the Troy community continues to grow with each passing win and coach Brown hopes it reflects in the stadium’s attendance.

“We have a great core that shows up through thick and thin,” Brown said. “We have a huge alumni base that isn’t all showing up for a football game. I hope that that fringe fan that doesn’t follow us each and every week comes into the stadium, they are going to recognize what kind of game day atmosphere we have, and they are going to continue to come.”

Even with all the excitement, the team knows there is still work to be done. With 20 days remaining in the regular season, the Trojans remained focused.

“Drown out the noise. Nothing changes,” Brown said. “We just beat App State and we have a lot of respect for them. It was a tough and physical football game. We have 20 days left in our season. If you can’t get yourself ready to go for 20 days, then you don’t deserve to be champions.”

“The team has a group message and we all talk,” Johnson said. “We said it’s time to keep grinding and get more.”

Arkansas Tate and Troy kick off at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday.