Four games into the season and Oregon State football coach Mike Riley is still looking for the pulse of his team.

The Beavers are known for their unlikely rises from early-season graves in recent years.

A tombstone hasn't been built for this season yet, but with another two losses or so, work on a rough draft for an epitaph can begin.

"We need a kick in the pants to get a win and prove we can get more wins," Riley said. "We had two wins early, and it seems like forever since those games because you get swamped of not winning."

The Beavers get their chance to snap a two-game losing streak and even up the Pacific-10 Conference record with a road game today at Arizona State.

In years past when at the edge of collapse, the Beavers felt they were on the verge of a breakthrough before beginning a late-season run. That's missing at the moment because they feel they are not that far away from winning close games.

So there's an odd, but confident, vibe coming from the team at this critical point of the season.

"It's disappointing because we really are a few plays from being 4-0," linebacker Keaton Kristick said. "We really do have a good defense with good athletes out there. A couple plays didn't go our way. That's the way it is."

The Beavers (2-2, 0-1) have been competitive in losses to now No. 10 Cincinnati and Pac-10 rival Arizona.

Players remain calm and focused on the season, but losses at home have hurt. The Beavers have three more home games, where they usually play well.

They need four more wins to become bowl eligible, meaning they must win on the road.

"The effort is there," linebacker David Pa'aluhi said. "We are giving it all we got. It's going to happen. It will all click and we'll make more plays."

The Beavers had a good week of practice, which was important to alleviate their frustrations over the losses.

Various minor breakdowns in all areas of the game added up to defeat.

"It's just something to get through," quarterback Sean Canfield said. "We had such high expectations coming into the year, and we still do. I think the spirit of the team is still good."

The players are young, particularly on defense. Much of the work during the week centered on that side of the ball.

Riley uses the narrow focus of teaching to shield players from negative thoughts. How they respond today will show if a strong finish is possible.

A win would help the most in confidence and the standings, but the Beavers must continue to make progress and learn how to win hard-fought contests.

"I'm still getting a read on them," Riley said of his players. "We have to win a game. At this point a certain win is like a kick in the pants to take off. Then we can think about what we can do in the future."

In their immediate way is Arizona State (2-1, 0-0), a team that eased into the season and built confidence against two lower-level teams. Then the Sun Devils played well in a close loss at Georgia.

"We just have to play our game," Kristick said. "We have the athletes. We play in a tough conference and the games are only going to get harder."