The Vandals trailed 34-7 at Missouri last Saturday after one quarter — before the morning coffee had taken full effect for the fans watching back home.

“They just came out ready to play,” Idaho junior linebacker Ed Hall said of the Tigers, who were 1-5 entering the game. “We started out great with the interception (that led to a touchdown and early 7-0 Vandal lead), and then things went downhill.”

The final was 68-21.

This week, Idaho (2-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) returns to conference play, hosting Louisiana-Monroe (3-4, 3-1) Saturday at the Kibbie Dome.

“When you go out there and get your butts kicked like that, it brings you down to earth a little bit,” Idaho senior quarterback Matt Linehan said. “But we have refocused on Monroe; I think we’ve moved on completely.”

Idaho needs to win four of its final five games — all conference games — to be bowl eligible.

After the Monroe game, Idaho has a quick turnaround, traveling to Troy (5-2, 2-1) for a Thursday night game.

Then it’s home for Coastal Carolina (1-6, 0-4), then on the road at New Mexico State (3-4, 1-2) and Georgia State (3-3, 2-1) to wrap up the regular season.

“Right now the focus is more having a chip on your shoulder, and focusing on one game at a time,” Linehan said. “I know that sounds cliché, but that’s what we need to do. Coach Petrino stressed that a lot this week — focus on one game at a time, because if you look at the big picture, it’s going to make things a lot more stressful ... and that’s going to hurt your performance.

“I still think the (postseason) hopes are alive, and that’s what’s driving our team right now,” he added. “It may seem bleak to those outside of our program ... but I still think we can put a couple wins together and put a decent run at it.”

Hall agreed.

“We’ve got five games left, all winnable games,” he said. “We can do it, and we’re confident that we will.”