After a humbling loss at home last Saturday to a last-place team, there was an uncomfortable silence in the EKU locker room at Roy Kidd Stadium.

Despite the disappointing outcome (a 24-7 loss to lowly Western Carolina), the Colonels (5-5, 5-2 OVC) knew they still had an outside shot at a third-straight Ohio Valley Conference championship.

Still, it was hard for the players and coaches to focus on the positives in that moment.

“We’ve just got to get better as a team and as a group,” Eastern Kentucky University freshman defensive lineman Uriah Grant said after the game.

The Colonels were certainly much more upbeat just a few days later.

Tennessee State’s upset win over Eastern Illinois on Thursday night denied the Panthers a shot to clinch the OVC title outright and gave EKU a shot at the title.

Now, the Colonels can clinch a record 21st league championship with a victory today at Jacksonville State (7-3. 5-1 OVC).

Game time is set for 1 p.m.

If the Colonels win, they take the title and earn the OVC automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs. If they lose, Eastern Illinois clinches the title.

“It doesn’t matter,” EKU coach Dean Hood said. “You sign up to play 11 games, you’ve got to play 11 games. You got a scholarship to play football. That’s what you’ve done since you were a kid. You’ve got a game ahead of you. You’ve got to play hard and give it all you got.”

The Colonels have lost three of their past four games heading into the regular-season finale, including a pair of forgettable losses to seemingly inferior opponents — Western Carolina and Austin Peay.

Still, an early-season win over Eastern Illinois would give EKU the title if both teams were to finish with the same OVC record.

“We’ve had a lot of things go our way,” EKU senior wide receiver Garnett Phelps said.

In addition to title implications, the showdown with the Gamecocks has even bigger meaning for the Colonels.

EKU needs to beat Jacksonville State to secure a 32nd-straight winning season. The Colonels have not had a non-winning season since 1977. They have not had a losing record since 1972.

“We don’t want to be the group who broke the streak,” Phelps said. “I was in a similar situation my freshman year. I didn’t really understand the significance of the streak. But, now that I’ve been here I know how significant the streak is.”

The significance of the streak isn’t lost on anyone associated with the program.

Florida State is only Division I team in the country with a longer run of winning seasons than EKU (32) and that streak is in jeopardy.

The Seminoles will have to win both of their remaining games (Maryland and at Florida) to finish with more victories than losses.

“There are players on this team who have been in this position,” Hood said of having to win the final game of the season to keep the streak alive. “There are coaches on our staff who have been in this position as players and coaches. I was in this position (as an assistant) with coach Roy Kidd. It’s not the first time we’ve been in this situation and Colonel pride has always come through.”

However, it certainly won’t be easy.

Led by standout quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, Jacksonville State leads the OVC in almost every statistical category, including scoring offense (35.1 ppg), scoring defense (16.2 ppg), total offense (431 ypg), total defense (286.8 ypg), rushing offense (183.7 ypg), pass offense (247.4 ypg), pass defense (145.2 ypg), pass efficiency (163.5) and pass efficiency defense (98.0).

Perrilloux leads the OVC in passing yards a game (239), passing touchdowns (22), total offense (276.3 ypg) and pass efficiency (176.9). The senior has thrown just two interceptions in 212 attempts this season.

“They have a good quarterback,” EKU senior defensive back Andre Evans said. “Last year, we made a lot of good plays on him. But, this isn’t last year. So, we’ve got to pull together, watch film and get prepared. Because either he’s going to embarrass you or you are going to have to man up and make plays.”

The Colonels picked off Perrilloux five times in a 38-35 win last year in Richmond.

Jacksonville State has lost just one conference game this season (to EIU), but the school is not eligible for the OVC title because of NCAA-imposed academic sanctions against the entire athletic department.

“Not to take away from the kind of football team they have, but this thing is all inclusive,” Hood said. “You’ve got to be a good person off the field to have the right to play. You’ve got to do to the right things academically to have the right to play. So, there’s a reason why they are not playing for a championship.”

EKU has won the past two meetings with JSU. The all-time series between the schools is tied at 3-3.