With two-thirds of the season over, the Cowboys have positioned themselves squarely in the middle of the road.

It’s good enough to show improvement, but it needs to be more consistent to make a true jump forward.

That leaves McNeese State’s season still to be determined with four games remaining. 

The only hope of making the postseason is for the Cowboys to win out. It’s a long shot for a club on a two-game losing skid and just 4-4 overall, 1-2 in the Southland Conference.

But there is a chance, which considering where this program was a year ago is something. McNeese hasn’t make the postseason since 2015.

“We have had our moments where we have rose to the occasion and played some great football,” McNeese head coach Gary Goff said Monday during his weekly press conference.

“I still don’t think we have played our best football by no means, so I think we are very capable of that. Getting to the playoff run is all about peaking at the right time. It’s got to be that time because we are at the end of the season.

“Yes, we are capable of that. We just have to play a lot better.”

There were times last Saturday when the Cowboys played better. They trailed high-powered Incarnate Word by just three (13-10) at halftime in San Antonio. 

However, a big push early in the third quarter let the Cardinals pull away to a 30-17 victory, their fifth straight against McNeese and sixth in the last seven contests.

“We had our moments where we played hard,” said Goff. “We did not execute in big moments.”

The Cardinals went 6-for-6 on fourth down tries, allowing them to run 91 plays to McNeese’s 61. The Cowboys did gain more yards per play (5.3 to 4.7) but the overwhelming volume of offensive snaps was too much to overcome.

“We did not play good team football,” Goff said. “We were not good at converting on third down.”

McNeese was just 3 of 14 on third downs.

Now the Cowboys turn their attention to another expected contender for the Southland title Nicholls. The Colonels are 3-4. 1-1 after blanking winless Northwestern State 20-0 last weekend. 

That came after a 55-10 thumping at the hands of UIW the previous week.

The big question as this week starts is the same as last week’s, the status of quarterback Clifton McDowell, who missed the UIW game with an injured finger on his throwing hand. 

“He has been progressing,” Goff said of his transfer QB. “We will see if the trainers give him the green light or not.”

If not, the Cowboys will once again turn to redshirt freshman Kamden Sixkiller, who started his second game of the season against the Cardinals. Sixkiller took a beating while connecting on 21 of 36 passes for 219 yards while being sacked four times and hit on numerous other occasions.

“Six might be the toughest guy on the team,” said Goff. “He played a good game, not a great game. He took a beating but he kept getting up.

“We have to play better around him.”

Sixkiller hit Jer’Michael Carter with a 36-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to give McNeese an early 7-0 lead. He also found Jamaal Levi with a 37-yard pass that could have gone further for a score had the receiver not stepped out of bounds.

The Cowboys were much more physical against UIW thanks to the return of linebacker Micah Davey and safety Boogsie Silvera. Both finished tied for the team lead with 10 tackles.

Goff said they both played “good” but he expects they will get even better as they get back into the swing of things.

As for the playoff run, it has to start now.

“Guys are still hungry, still working hard,” said Goff. “We have a lot of football left. This is a strong conference, a lot of things can happen.”

The Cowboys know time is also running out so they need to start making things happen now.