TROY, Ala. — Throughout Western Kentucky’s five-game losing streak, coach David Elson has maintained as balanced an outlook as possible.

Elson is clearly tired of coming up short every week. At the same time, the Hilltoppers’ focus and level-headedness must remain high.

As WKU tries to avoid a sixth straight loss today against future Sun Belt Conference foe Troy, Elson feels the Hilltoppers’ attitude is right where it needs to be.

“You don’t ever want losing to be taken lightly, because it hurts and it should hurt,” Elson said. “So there’s a balance where we don’t like this and we don’t enjoy it, but we’ve got to have the right attitude and the right attitude is to learn from it and put it behind you.”

An emphasis for WKU in practice this week has been finishing. Each of WKU’s five games against Sun Belt opponents over the past two seasons has come down to the fourth quarter. But the Hilltoppers are just 1-4 in those games.

In fact, late-game miscues are exactly what cost WKU a season ago when it hosted Troy. The Hilltoppers failed to find the end zone on first-and-goal inside the 5-yard line in the fourth quarter, eventually losing 21-17.

“We’ve just talked about finishing and realizing that you have to play every play like it’s the one that’s going to make the difference in the game,” Elson said. “We really got after it good on Tuesday and then we just said, ‘Alright, this is the fourth quarter and this is how you’re going to feel.’ ”

Troy (5-3, 4-1 SBC) has lost some of its top performers from 2007 - notably quarterback Omar Haugabook and cornerback and NFL draftee Leodis McKelvin - it has found a way into the thick of the Sun Belt Conference title race.

The Trojan offense is led by junior quarterback Levi Brown (6-4, 225), who stepped in for starter Jamie Hampton last month when Hampton was lost for the season with a knee injury. Brown has been effective, throwing for 929 yards and seven touchdowns against just one interception.

The status of Troy’s leading receiver, Jerrel Jernigan, is in doubt after he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last week. Speedy seniors Kennard Burton (5-7, 170) and Mykeal Terry (5-8, 175) should join junior Cornelius Williams (6-0, 190) as Brown’s best options on the outside.

Sophomore DuJuan Harris (5-7, 190) has led the ground game and will look to duplicate former Trojan Kenny Catthouse’s 112-yard performance against the Hilltoppers a season ago.

Defensively, the Trojans are highlighted by one of the league’s top defenders in Boris Lee (6-0, 231), who was a preseason candidate for national defensive awards. Meanwhile, the Trojans have forced 21 turnovers.

After losing last week to previously winless North Texas, perhaps the worst team in the SBC over the past three seasons, WKU has an opportunity to knock off what Elson calls the best program in the Sun Belt over that span.

“They’re the most consistently strong program in the Sun Belt Conference in my opinion,” Elson said. “And it’s because of recruiting and leadership, and they’ve just picked right up where they left off this season. They lost all those great players and still haven’t missed a beat.”

The relief of snapping out of Western Kentucky’s worst losing slide in 17 years will be motivation enough for the Hilltoppers today. Getting a win over one of the Sun Belt’s top dogs is just added incentive.

“It’s why you play and it’s what college football’s all about,” Elson said. “Each week, you’ve got a chance to get beat or beat anybody. And at this point in the process, we feel like we’re right there with these guys in the league.

“Why not us? Why not now?”