It held on to beat Dunedin 27-26 at Kettle Park last weekend, despite a late try to the home side. Had the conversion gone over, Southern would have found itself on the wrong side of the one-point margin.
The previous Saturday, Southern stormed back to beat Kaikorai 23-21 after trailing 21-13. Jono Hayes knocked over a penalty to seal the win in the final act of the match.
They were two critical wins which have helped Southern carve out a niche in the top four. But that position is far from solid.
The tournament is tight this season. There is only a nine-point spread between Southern in third-equal and Alhambra-Union in eighth.
It is not much of a buffer heading into tomorrow's game against competition leader University at Bathgate Park.
University has set the benchmark this season with six wins from seven games and shapes as stiff opposition for the defending champion.
But Southern has improved from a rocky start in which it dropped games against Green Island and Taieri.
"We've put a couple of good part performances together [since then]," coach Luke Herden said.
" If we can just get more of a consistent display, I think we've got a good chance."
It is no secret where Southern will look to put University under pressure. It has a monster forward pack which has been in dominant form in the set pieces.
The Magpies arguably boast the best scrum in the competition and can expect, at the very least, another nice solid platform.
"Our forward pack is a strength of ours. We've got four really good props and a couple of young hookers coming through.
"We've got good locks, good loosies, so it is one of our strengths going into any game this year."
University will counter with an expansive game plan and push the ball wide at every opportunity.
It is an exciting brand but University played a little too much rugby in the wet against Taieri during its only loss this season and will have learnt from that experience.
"We will look to take them on up front but I'm quite confident in our backs, as well," Herden said.