Five games into his fourth season as the head coach of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, Rickey Bustle envisioned a brighter picture than the 1-4 mark he sees.

"I thought we'd have at least three (wins) by now," Bustle said on Monday, "and if the ball bounces right, sneak in and get another one."

Instead, the Cajuns are looking for answers after last Thursday's 28-10 home loss to Florida Atlantic in their Sun Belt Conference opener.

It doesn't help that Arkansas State will have had 12 days to prepare for UL by the time the two kick off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Jonesboro.

But don't expect the Cajuns to mail in the second half of their once-promising campaign.

"It goes beyond the coaches," running back Abdule Levier said. "We've got to be more focused as players. This would be a real critical win for us."

"You always want to put the last game behind you," said linebacker Brenton Burkhalter. "We're definitely moving on to focus on the Arkansas State game."

"I still like this team," Bustle said. "Their character is good. We've played five games and have six more to play. The alternative (quitting) is not good. We're not going to let go of the rope.

"This team will rally. Their strength is their togetherness, and that will help to pull this out."

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com