CLEMSON, South Carolina (Ticker) -- As if Clemson was not a big enough test, The Citadel must face the 18th-ranked Tigers in the season opener for both teams without perhaps its best defensive player.

Senior defensive lineman and co-captain Mario Richardson fractured the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot on the last play of final scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday night and will be sidelined for four to six weeks.

"Mario's injury is a major loss for us, as he is a team leader and a big part of our defense," The Citadel coach Don Powers said. "We hope to get him back as soon as possible."

The 6-2, 295-pound Richardson, a fifth-year senior from Fort Pierce, Florida, was named to the preseason All-Southern Conference team, which is selected by the league's coaches. He was a second-team All-Southern Conference performer a year ago.

All this means that The Citadel's defense will need to work extra hard against the likes of Clemson quarterback Woodrow Dantzler and wide receiver Ron Gardner, who is being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate.

It is the consensus that the Tigers (0-0) will finish second in the Atlantic Coast Conference behind defending national champion Florida State. They went 6-6 and lost to Mississippi State in the Peach Bowl in Tommy Bowden's first season at the helm.

Clemson also features the rare defensive standout who has made it onto some Heisman lists. Junior linebacker Keith Adams led the nation with 186 tackles last season and was second with 16 sacks.

With Adams (Butkus), Gardner (Biletnikoff) and safety Robert Carswell (Thorpe), Clemson is one of just 12 schools nationally to have at least one candidate for all three awards. Of those schools, only Brigham Young, Marshall and Pittsburgh are not ranked in the top 25.

No Clemson player has ever won a national award. Adams, Gardner and Carswell also are roommates.

The Tigers have won 34 straight games over Southern Conference schools dating to a 6-0 loss to South Carolina in 1952. Both schools were league members that season but left the following year to join the ACC.

This will be the 35th all-time meeting between the schools. Clemson is riding a 13-game winning streak in the series.

THE CITADEL Season schedule and results	CLEMSON Season schedule and results
Sep. 2 @Clemson 6:00pm ET Sep. 9 @Delaware 7:00pm ET Sep. 16 Westrn Carolina 7:00pm ET Sep. 23 @Appalachian State 2:00pm ET Sep. 30 South Carolina St 4:00pm ET Oct. 7 East Tennessee St 2:00pm ET Oct. 14 @Furman 2:00pm ET Oct. 21 Georgia Southern 3:30pm ET Oct. 28 @Wofford 1:30pm ET Nov. 11 @VMI 1:00pm ET	Sep. 2 The Citadel 6:00pm ET Sep. 9 Missouri 3:30pm ET Sep. 16 Wake Forest 1:00pm ET Sep. 23 @Virginia 3:30pm ET Sep. 30 @Duke 12:00pm ET Oct. 7 North Carolina St TBA Oct. 14 Maryland TBA Oct. 21 @North Carolina TBA Oct. 28 Georgia Tech TBA Nov. 4 @Florida State 7:30pm ET Nov. 18 South Carolina TBA