LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas is moving its Thanksgiving-weekend game against Louisiana State from Little Rock to its Fayetteville campus this fall, citing the desire to play in a larger stadium and the need to avoid playing three or four straight games away from campus to end the season.

The move takes a marquee matchup away from War Memorial Stadium, which has held the Southeastern Conference rivals’ game every other year since 1994, and adds three hours to the trip for LSU fans. The 2006 and 2010 contests in Little Rock each featured top 10 teams, and Arkansas took last-minute victories in 2002 and 2008.

“Playing on campus will … allow our football program the recruiting advantage of hosting prospects for a game that has traditionally carried conference and national implications,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said in a statement on Friday.

This year, Arkansas will play Mississippi at Little Rock rather than LSU. Kevin Crass, the chairman of the Little Rock stadium’s commission, said the facility could perhaps resume a tradition with the Rebels, who played here 15 times from 1913 to 1992. The Rebels, coming off a 2-10 season, will visit on Oct. 27.

“It is what it is,” Crass said. “They (the Razorbacks) have the right to pick the game, and they explained the reason to me.”

LSU finished last season ranked No. 2 after losing to Alabama in the national title game. Arkansas was No. 5. Alabama plays at Fayetteville on Sept. 15.

Long said Arkansas wanted to play LSU in front of a larger crowd and wanted to avoid spending at least three weeks away from campus to end the regular season. The Razorbacks play on Nov. 10 at South Carolina and Nov. 17 at Mississippi State, and if Arkansas were to qualify for the SEC championship game, it would mean four consecutive weeks of travel.

“By rearranging the rotation and playing the regular-season finale in Fayetteville, it will also prevent our team from a competitive disadvantage,” Long said.

After playing 37 times between 1901 and 1966, Arkansas and LSU resumed their series when Arkansas joined the SEC in 1992. The Razorbacks defeated the Tigers 30-6 that year — its first victory over LSU since 1929 — in front of just 32,721 fans. Many students were away from campus for the holiday, and the teams had only four victories between them entering the game.

Also back then, fans snaked through hairpin turns on U.S. 71 to reach the stadium. A four-lane interstate highway and tunnel have since shaved the better part of an hour off the trip from central Arkansas.

For the 1994 game, Arkansas moved the game to Little Rock and drew 45,633 to a 55,000-seat stadium.

Arkansas’ on-campus stadium now seats more than 70,000, and an expansion to the Little Rock stadium is being considered as part of an effort to keep Razorbacks games beyond the 2016 expiration of a long-term contract.