There's nothing like combining Christmas cheer with bowl preparations. Just ask Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott, whose Panthers face Western Kentucky Saturday in the 22nd annual LendingTree Bowl in Birmingham, Ala.

Kickoff at Ladd-Peebles Stadium is 3:30 p.m. ET, and the game will air nationally on ESPN as well as on the Georgia State Radio Network on WRAS-FM 88.5.

"Here we are practicing the week of Christmas," Elliott said. "We're deserving to be in this bowl and we're thrilled to be practicing and preparing for the LendingTree Bowl. If you could see the excitement and intensity in our practices, you would see that we are serious about getting ready to play a very good Western Kentucky team."

But Elliott embraces the spirit of the season, especially in this unique season.

"We've got Christmas music playing in the office, we've got 'Christmas Vacation' on the TVs," he said. "We understand it's the week of Christmas. Even though we're not at the bowl site, we understand that we're playing in a very significant bowl game for our football program, so we just try to make it fun."

Georgia State (5-4, 4-4 Sun Belt) has earned back-to-back bowl berths for the first time in the program's 11-year history. The Panthers are playing in their fourth bowl game in the last six years and third in four seasons under Elliott. GSU earned its first bowl victory in Elliott's first season against this same WKU team, 27-17 in the 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl.

Both teams come into this bowl game after strong finishes to the regular season. Georgia State won three of its last four games with wins over ULM, South Alabama and Georgia Southern sandwiched around a three-point loss at Appalachian State. WKU (5-6, 4-4 C-USA) won its last three games over Southern Miss, FIU and Charlotte.

The bowl game in Alabama, where the Panthers have already won twice this season over Troy and South Alabama, is especially significant for Georgia State quarterback Cornelious Brown IV from Birmingham (Calera High School).

The redshirt freshman took over the starting job and is second in the Sun Belt Conference in passing (227.3 ypg) and total offense (256.3 ypg) while accounting for 21 touchdowns (14 passing and seven rushing).

"Coming into this season, of course Quad was an unknown, especially after having just a few days of spring practice," Elliott said. "He's really done a very good job running our offense, both in the pass game and the run game. He's a very talented athlete and he's got tremendous upside. What a personality this young man has. Always fun to be around, always wanting to learn. He's really meant a lot to us, and he's going to mean a lot more to us as his career progresses."

His opposite number for the WKU is Tyrell Pigrome, who did not throw a single interception this season on 264 pass attempts.

"He's not turning the ball over. That's one of the more interesting things to see, for as much as they are throwing the football," Elliott said. "He's a good quarterback, and he makes that offense go for them."

Pigrome and the Hilltoppers will face a much improved Georgia State defense.

"We haven't been a great pass-rushing team and haven't generated a lot of pressure on the quarterback the last few years, but the guys up front like Jordan Strachan, Hardrick Willis and others have really pushed the envelope in that area," Elliott said. "We have 32 sacks this season, and Jordan Strachan is top five in the country in sacks. The development there has been awesome to see."