I'm looking forward to another great football game Saturday night at Houck Stadium when the Southwest Missouri State Bears come to town.

We had an electric atmosphere at the SIU game, and we need the same type of enthusiastic crowd Saturday night.

We're disappointed to be 0-3, but our team is making progress. We played well against a good Division I-A team at Arkansas State last Saturday, and, although disappointed with the loss, I came away excited about the progress we're making.

Now we just need to get over the hump with a win over SMS. We need to have momentum going into the Ohio Valley Conference opener at Samford on Sept. 27. A victory over a good Gateway Conference team like SMS would certainly help us gain the momentum.

We also need your continued support. The players feed off your energy. The season is still young, and we are still excited about the possibilities of our team.

SMS has a good team, and the Bears have beaten us the past three years. All of the games have been hard fought and close, but the Bears have come out on top. That needs to end Saturday night. We recruit a lot of the same players, and a victory would give us bragging rights for the next year.

The Bears are 1-1 with a 48-0 win over Division II East Central and a 42-3 loss to Division I-A Oklahoma State. The win over a lower division team, and a loss to a contender in the Big 12 makes it tough to judge exactly how good SMS is.

But SMS coach Randy Ball always has a tough defensive team, and I know they will play hard. On offense, they just run right at you.

We have to play hard and need to get untracked offensively. I did feel we started to develop an offensive identity in the Arkansas State game. We moved the ball against an excellent defensive team, but we again had trouble putting the ball in the end zone. Once we score a touchdown, I think we will quit worrying about it and score often.

At Arkansas State, our defense played as well as any defensive unit we have had since I've been head coach. We are getting better each game despite some injuries. We were without two preseason all-OVC defensive backs in Mike Miller and Marco Tipton, who are both out indefinitely with knee injuries.

Nate Johnston and Kellin White got starts in their place and both played well. We have good depth on defense and we need to take advantage of that depth. We've been alternating our big defensive linemen up front and that has helped our defense.

Some people asked me if a win over SMS would be good for the team. I told them I know it would be good for the head coach.

Don't give up on us. There are still nine games left to play this season, and we are hopeful we can develop into a team that you can all be proud of. We're not in a panic mode yet, but we do have a sense of urgency.

We need a big win over SMS Saturday night, and you can help us get that win by being at Houck Stadium for the game. We need everybody to pull together, and your enthusiastic attendance may be just what we need to give us the extra boost that results in a victory.

I'll see you at Houck Stadium Saturday night, and don't forget the great tailgating before the game.

Tim Billings is the head football coach at Southeast Missouri State University.