SEMO MENDS WOUNDS DURING OPEN WEEK

It's back to work this week for Southeast Missouri State University's football team, which evidently used an open date to freshen up both physically and mentally.

The Indians have not played since suffering a heartbreaking 17-14 loss to Tennessee Tech on Oct. 11. They'll return to action Saturday in a 2 p.m. Ohio Valley Conference game at Middle Tennessee State.

"The week off seems to have helped our spirits," said Southeast head coach John Mumford during his weekly media conference Monday morning. "The team came back with fresh legs and had good practices on Thursday and Friday. It looked like the start of two-a-days, the way we were flying around.

"I think everyone feels we have a chance to finish the season strong."

If that is to happen, then a victory at MTSU is a virtual must. And the Indians do appear to have a decent shot of knocking off the Blue Raiders, who are struggling a bit -- at least by their previous lofty standards.

MTSU and Southeast have identical overall and OVC records of 2-4 and 1-3. The Raiders were among the nation's elite Division I-AA teams for most of the 1980s and early 1990s, but they slumped to 6-5 last season and will have to close strong to avoid a losing record this year.

"It's not a typical Middle Tennessee team," Mumford said. "They graduated a lot of players. They're young, but they still have a lot of talent."

The Raiders have more than 15 freshmen listed on their two-deep roster and several of them start.

Last season, the Indians rallied from a 13-0 deficit to stun the Raiders 16-13 in overtime in Cape Girardeau. It was Southeast's first win over MTSU after seven losses.

Following Saturday's game, the Indians will play at Austin Peay, which has gone to non-scholarship football, then close the season with three straight home games against Eastern Kentucky, Southern Illinois and Tennessee State.

While the last five games of the season don't appear as a whole to be quite as daunting as the first six -- which featured the likes of Eastern Illinois, Murray State and Tennessee Tech -- Mumford said it certainly will still be a difficult stretch.

"We've got five tough games left. There are no cakewalks," he said. "We just have to take it one repetition, one practice, one game at a time."

* Southeast's defense continues to rank high in the OVC and national I-AA statistics.

The Indians are third in the OVC in both rushing defense (94.7 yards per game) and total defense (274.2 yards per game). They rank 16th nationally in total defense and 18th in rushing defense.

* Punter Justin Terrill now ranks fourth nationally with an average of 44.6 yards per punt.

* Aaron Layne, the Virginia Tech transfer who rushed for 99 yards against Tennessee Tech, will start at tailback Saturday.

* On the injury front, wide receiver Marcus McKinley (bruised ribs) and linebacker Octavio Campos (broken hand) are questionable for Saturday.

Guard James Williams (ankle), running back Riki Smith (hip) and defensive end Brad Richardson (knee) are probable.

* Murray State's 28-9 loss to Eastern Kentucky over the weekend broke the Racers' 19-game OVC winning streak.

Eastern Illinois (4-0) and Eastern Kentucky (2-0) are now the OVC's only undefeated teams in league play.