There’s not a weekday that goes by when Donnie Daye doesn’t put on that championship ring and get a little glimmer in his eye.

Daye, a Ferriday native and Natchez resident, was part of LSU’s 1958 national championship team, one that didn’t have to endure all of today’s BCS garbage and computer rankings to be determined national championships.

Daye and the Tigers knew they were national champions before they played the Sugar Bowl thanks to votes from the Associated Press and United Press International. But this way with the BCS, the national audience and the level of hysteria all over Louisiana and the Miss-Lou, it’s definitely different this time around.

&uot;We’re pulling like hell for them,&uot; Daye said during halftime when the Tigers had a 14-7 lead. &uot;We’ve got about 30 people over here. We’re having a big LSU party. So far the defense has played lights out. If they can get it done, they get the ultimate experience that lasts forever. It can’t be taken away from them.&uot;

And that’s just what happened. The Tigers won’t have anyone to take anything away from them after the defense was just brutal in the 21-14 win over the Sooners Sunday night.

Much like that 1958 team, the 2003 Tiger team was just loaded. The defensive unit held the Sooners and quarterback Jason White for most of the game, including a big sack late in the game on a huge fourth-and-10 situation.

&uot;They’re a great defensive team,&uot; said Daye, whose son, Daryl, is head coach at Nicholls State. &uot;The size of those kids and their speed is phenomenal. When we played, we were fast but smaller. There’s no comparison. You can never compare teams of 50 years ago to today. It would be like comparing us to a 1900 team. There’s not a comparison there.&uot;

Maybe a comparison is in order for the man in charge. Paul Dietzel commanded that 1958 team with Daye as a sophomore halfback playing behind Johnny Robinson, who went on to play 14 years with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Much of the credit for this year’s success has been attributed to head coach Nick Saban, in his fourth year with the Tigers with two SEC Championships to his credit.

&uot;Nick has done a great job with them,&uot; Daye said. &uot;He’s done a great job so far. Recruiting is different now than in the old days. When I went to LSU, we had 100-something people on the freshman team. Back then freshmen weren’t eligible.

&uot;He continues to get the top players in the state of Louisiana. We’ve got great players in the state. If we can get athletes to stay here, we can win. We just hope LSU can hang in there and keep it going.&uot;

But for Daye, the memory of that national championship and his playing days at LSU is something that he holds dear to his heart. The following of LSU football during that 1958 season was unbelievable, although like the players you can’t compare it to now.

The Tigers went 11-0 that year and finished the season with a 62-0 thumping of Tulane before being declared national champions. The Tigers then went out and knocked off No. 12 Clemson 7-0 in the Sugar Bowl to finish a memorable season.

Before Daye’s career was over he blocked for Billy Cannon during his Heisman Trophy year in 1959 and did the same for Jerry Stovall after Cannon’s departure.

But the memories from 1958 live on forever for Daye, who hopes the same for this year’s Tigers after a complete performance over Oklahoma. Daye was one of four players from the Miss-Lou on that team &045; Max Fluger and Manson Nelson from Ferriday and Al Dampier from Sicily Island.

&uot;Memory-wise, we live with it every day,&uot; Daye said. &uot;If they’re national champions, it never changes. It’s forever. It goes down in history books forever. There’s a ring I put on every morning of the week, and I wear it proudly. I never go anywhere without it. I hope these kids can get it done, win a national championship ring and wear it every day of their lives.&uot;

They will. They most certainly will.

Adam Daigle

is sports editor of The Natchez Democrat. Reach him at (601) 445-3632 or at

adam.daigle@natchezdemocrat.com.