HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Texas Christian in the BCS? Southern Mississippi put an end to any debate by fighting off a frantic comeback attempt by the Horned Frogs.

Dustin Almond threw for 227 yards and three touchdowns and the Golden Eagles capitalized on four turnovers to hand the 10th-ranked Horned Frogs their first loss of the season, 40-28 on Thursday night.

Southern Mississippi (8-3, 7-0) clinched at least a share of the Conference USA title and can win it outright with a victory over East Carolina.

TCU (10-1, 7-1) trailed by 31-6 early in the fourth quarter before scoring three touchdowns in a span of 4:30 with the aid of two straight recovered onside kicks.

Brandon Hassell led the comeback attempt with his passing and running.

He swept around right end for a 1-yard TD with 6:55 left and then threw for the 2-point conversion to cut the lead to 31-28.

Hassell finished 18-for-31 for 260 yards.

Southern Miss kicked a field goal to make it 34-28, then put the game away by forcing TCU's final turnover of the game.

Greg Brooks got free on a corner blitz and knocked the ball from Hassell. Rod Davis recovered inside the TCU 20 with less than three minutes left and moments later Anthony Harris bulled into the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 40-28 with 1:30 left.

TCU was eighth in the Bowl Championship Series standings this week and needed to stay unbeaten to have any shot of becoming the first school from a non-BCS league to receive an invite to one of the four high-dollar major bowls.

Now, the best the Horned Frogs can hope for is a piece of the league title and a spot in one of five bowls with C-USA ties.