COLLEGE FOOTBALL: SOUTHEAST PLACES FOCUS ON FINISHING SEASON WITH A WIN

It might not seem like much, but Southeast Missouri State University's football team still has some kind of achievement to shoot for as the Indians wrap up their first season under coach Tim Billings this week.

In a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors, the Indians were picked to finish seventh in the eight-team Ohio Valley Conference. A victory over Tennessee State Saturday in Nashville, Tenn. (1:30 p.m. kickoff) will assure Southeast sixth place.

But Billings, speaking at his weekly media conference Monday, said he's not all that concerned about whether the Indians wind up sixth, since that's not anything to write home about. What he is concerned about is that Southeast closes out the year on a positive note.

"It doesn't even matter," said Billings of the sixth-place possibility. "I just want us to play well. Let's go down there, play hard and win.

"I think it's an important game. We need something positive to happen. It's been tough and we would like to go out on a winning note."

Southeast and Tennessee State are tied for sixth in the OVC with 1-5 records, so the winner will definitely finish sixth and the loser will be relegated to seventh. The Indians are 3-7 overall while the Tigers are 2-8, having suffered quite a fall after winning the last two conference titles and having an undefeated regular season in 1999.

"I'm sure they'd like to end the season on a good note going into recruiting and we're in the same boat," Billings said. "I'd love to win this thing and hopefully our players would too."

* While Billings had higher hopes for his first Southeast team than what has transpired, he said the reality is that the Indians simply don't have enough good players across the board.

"We're just not a good enough football team yet. We're a few players away on both sides of the ball," he said. "People we played have better football players than us top to bottom. We have some good football players, just not enough."

* Although the season as a whole has not gone well for Southeast, special teams -- one of Billings' points of emphasis prior to the campaign -- have proven to be solid.

The Indians rank second in the OVC and 22nd nationally in kickoff returns and they are 28th nationally in net punting.

Individually, Jason Witczak leads the OVC in punting with a 41.1-yard average (he is 12th nationally) while Curtis Cooper is first in kickoff returns with a 23.4-yard average. Cooper is also fifth in punt returns while Corey Chester is third in kickoff returns.

* On the injury front, running back Iven Brown suffered a broken leg in practice last week and is through for the season.

Also likely out for the final game is defensive tackle Jermaine Motley, who suffered a sprained knee in Saturday's 24-7 loss at Southwest Missouri State.

It is not certain whether standout freshman middle linebacker Ricky Farmer, who missed the Southwest Missouri game with a sprained knee suffered the previous week, will be able to play against Tennessee State.

* Although the atmosphere might not be that great because the facility figures to be quite empty, the Indians will get the opportunity to play in an NFL stadium Saturday since Tennessee State's home games are held in Adelphia Coliseum, home of the Tennessee Titans.