Kansas State coach Ron Prince watches the final moments of the Wildcats' loss to Missouri. K-State will conclude its regular season today against Fresno State.

Manhattan ? Very few players on Kansas State’s roster were around the last time the Wildcats squared off against Fresno State, but those who were remember it clearly.

The year was 2004, and No. 13 Kansas State’s hopes for the season were sky-high following a Big 12 Championship the season before. But Fresno State came to Manhattan and exposed the Wildcats.

“I remember that game. It was pretty intense the first part of the game,” linebacker Ian Campbell said. “They kind of got in our face a little bit. They came in with their jaws set, and we didn’t.”

The Bulldogs bruised their way to 45-21 victory, sending Kansas State on a tailspin that resulted in a 4-7 season and no bowl game for the first time in 11 years.

In many ways, that loss was the beginning of the end to the glory years for Kansas State football. The Wildcats had won 11 games in six of the previous seven seasons but have been to just own bowl in the last three years.

Kansas State (5-6) has a chance at payback when it travels today to Fresno, Calif., to take on the Bulldogs (6-4).

A victory would make the Wildcats bowl eligible for the second consecutive season.

A loss would mean winter conditioning begins early for the younger players.

“We’re not going to sit here and cry about a loss,” defensive tackle Steven Cline said. “Any game will be good after the last three games. We’re sick of losing, and it’s going to show this week.”

Whether six wins would be enough to qualify for a bowl is not a concern to the players. Kansas and Missouri both appear destined for a BCS bowl, creating one more spot for a six-win Big 12 team.

But, as of now, Kansas State is only a five-win team.

“All we can control is to win the game and give us a sixth win to make us one of the teams to be picked,” said senior wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who was recently named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award. “Hopefully we’ll be one to get picked. We’ve kind of had a playoff-game (atmosphere) the last three weeks, and it hasn’t done too well for us.”

As part of a struggling defense that has given up 122 points in losses to Nebraska and Missouri the last two weeks, Campbell’s frustration has been evident. He said he wants badly to turn things around and get that sixth win.

“We are really stressing the fact that we only have four or five days of legitimate football left that we know of,” he said. “And if you can’t pour everything into it to try to get more games, then I don’t know what else to say.”