The mood at Cowboy practice Monday was still upbeat as the players vowed to fight to the finish this season despite the adversity.

With five games left McNeese State (1-5) can still mathematically avoid their third straight losing season by winning out. While that may seem like long odds right now, it is something to shoot for.

“We want to go out with a bang,” said defensive lineman Mason Kinsey. “The moral is not too bad. We are still fighting to the end.”

Kinsey admitted that the Cowboys have to battle through adversity as when things go bad there is a feeling of here we go again.

“That is hard with all that we have been through,” said Kinsey. “That’s when you have to play for the guy next to you, your brother and your teammates.”

Offensive lineman Caron Coleman, a preseason all-Southland Conference selection, feels the same way. It is why he fought so hard to come back from concussions that forced him to miss the first five games.

“We want to go out on a high note,” Coleman said. “It is all we got.”

In order to do that the Cowboys have to find a way to finish games.

McNeese has been outscored 113-57 during second halves and 63-23 in fourth quarters. In their two conference losses the Pokes have been within one score in the last quarter only to falter down the stretch.

Some of that is lack of depth, some is the defense being on the field too much.

“It is a combination of those,” said head coach Gary Goff. “It is not being able to finish.

“We play three quarters of good football and not finishing. We have to be able to execute.”

Goff isn’t willing to make any excuses.

“Next man up has got to play better,” said Goff. “It is just where we are at right now. I know we will be fine.

“This is a process and where we are at, but we have to get out of it. I do believe we will be fine but we have to learn from this. I don’t enjoy the process right now but it is where we are at.”

Goff said he wants to see how his team continues to respond to the challenges of rebuilding and doesn’t want to see them give in to feeling sorry for themselves.

“We challenged them and said years from now what will somebody say about you, what do you stand for as a man,” Goff said. “I don’t think there is any quit to us, but I do think we start to start to watch the scoreboard and panic a little bit when things don’t go our way.

“We have to be able to shake that right there and not do that. I’m excited to see how we bounce back.”

McNeese’s first chance to bound back is Saturday when the Pokes travel to 1-5 Nicholls for a 3 p.m. kickoff.