BATON ROUGE — Stevan Ridley finished the regular season at LSU in some pretty prestigious company.

With a 75-yard game against Arkansas in the Tigers’ final regular-season game, Ridley ended regular season play with 1,042 yards. He is just the 13th player in LSU history to rush for more than 1,000 yards.

“It’s a great accomplishment,” Ridley said. “It’s really a blessing to me. A lot of things had to come together for me to be able to do that, and God’s blessed me with a lot of ability.”

Ridley also commended his offensive line in helping him reach the 1,000-yard plateau. He said he was especially grateful toward his two roommates, starting guards Josh Dworaczyk and Will Blackwell.

“They did a lot of work and went from being one of the worst offensive lines in the SEC to one of the most dominant ones,” Ridley said.

“Will got injured, but Josh played the whole season, and our left side was definitely our strong side. If there was any time we needed three yards, there was no doubt. I was running right behind my roommates.”

Ridley said he actually aimed to rush for 1,300 yards, but wasn’t too upset about not quite tallying that many.

“I always aim high, and that’s a very high goal, but even though I fell short, I had a great season,” Ridley said.

“I’m glad I got the opportunity to do what I do, because a lot of people doubted me being able to play at LSU. I knew I just had to stay strong in my faith in the Lord, and it would all take care of itself.”

Being in a running back rotation with several other talented backs, Ridley said he was proud that he was able to separate himself from the pack a little bit.

“It’s tough down here,” he said. “That’s the reason I came to LSU, because I knew I couldn’t cheat myself. I would be playing with the best of the best.”

Ridley had a number of big touchdowns this season, but the game-winner at Ole Miss was the most significant one personally, he said.

“Alabama and LSU is a huge rivalry, and the (game-winner) in the Tennessee was huge, but I had a lot to prove against Ole Miss,” Ridley said.

“Ole Miss offered me a scholarship to play linebacker, but LSU offered me as a running back. It was my first time to get significant playing time against the home state team, and I was on a mission to go out there and show my abilities.”

LSU (10-2) will play Texas A&M (9-3) in the Cotton Bowl Jan. 7 at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas — and Ridley said he doesn’t see any way the Tigers will lose.

“We have to take a negative and turn it into a positive,” Ridley said. “We lost to Arkansas in our last game, but coach (Les) Miles does a great job in preparing us for bowl games. I don’t see us having any other outcome than finishing 11-2.”

Ridley also said he knows his fan base in Natchez will be cheering him on.

“I had a goal to put Natchez on the map, and I did my best,” he said. “I want to thank the town of Natchez for their support, because there’s a lot of it.”