At the beginning of the 2012 football season, Portland State had high hopes for what it might accomplish. The words "Big Sky championship" and "playoffs" were used frequently.

Nearing the end of October, with the Vikings 2-5, those words have faded away. They have been replaced by words like "pride" and "ending the season on a high note."

“We can reassess our goals,” PSU linebacker Ian Sluss says. “But at the same time, we have the same goal of winning games. We need to finish out as strong as we can, keep our spirits high and come out strong at the end of the season because we know that we’re a good team.”

Portland State coach Nigel Burton says that his message to the team heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. road game against UC Davis (3-5 overall, 2-3 Big Sky) will not change from what it has been throughout the season.

“You talk to your team about the things that it will take to win that particular week,” Burton says. “We go about it just the way we have. We want to be 1-0 after this week. And in order to win the game you have to do your job.”

Despite the Vikings' record (1-3 in the conference), Burton says he has seen positives and progress throughout the season.

“We’ve improved from week to week,” hesays. “Unfortunately, because of some bad breaks and some injuries and some goofy mistakes, we haven’t gotten paid for a lot of the hard work that they’ve done. But the season isn’t over. We’re optimistic about finishing the season on a great note.”

The Portland State offense has been playing efficiently this season, averaging 34.6 points and 442.3 yards per game. Freshman quarterback Kieran McDonagh says that over the last four games of the season, the Vikings must improve the run game, though.

“Offensively, we just need to start doing what we do best a little bit better,” McDonagh says. “We’ve got to get the run game established.”

McDonagh says he wants the Vikings, who lost 37-25 at undefeated, 11th-ranked Cal Poly last week, to prove to the other Big Sky teams that they have a talented offense -- and give their opponents something to think about going into next season.

“At this point, we just want to win out,” McDonagh says. “We want to show everybody that we’re one of the top offenses in the conference and let them know that we’re here as a contender next year for sure.”

The defense has been Portland State’s Achilles' heel all season. The Vikings have given up 33.9 points and 389.3 yards per game. Sluss says that over the remaining four games Portland State’s defensive players need to play unselfish football and not try to do too much.

“We all need to focus on doing our own assignment and not worry about making as many plays as possible,” Sluss says. “Individually, it’s not just making plays, it’s as a defense doing our job and setting other people up to make the plays. It’s being unselfish.”

Sluss is confident that the Vikings will continue playing hard throughout the remainder of the 2012 campaign.

“We’re all proud players,” Sluss says. “We all know that we’re good players and that we’re a good program. We all still want to win. There’s going to be no one on this team who’s going to give up, no one on this team who is going to stop wanting to play or win. I know that for a fact.”

If the Vikings play the way he believes they are capable of playing, Burton is confident that Portland State can finish the season strong.

“We could go 4-0,” Burton says, “if we play well and do what we’re supposed to do.”