The room for error is now officially over for the UL Ragin' Cajuns.

At 2-6, coach Michael Desormeaux's team must win all four remaining games to achieve a bowl berth for the eighth consecutive season.

"That's the reality," said Desormeaux, whose Cajuns play at South Alabama at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. "Any postseason hopes you've got, you're in the playoffs now ... one at a time. You've got to win each one you have to have a chance to do it. That's just where we're at right now."

Despite the disappointing season thus far, Desormeaux said his Cajuns are still playing hard.

"What option do we have?" he said. "I know what happens when you quit ... that's already written. If you keep busting your tail and you keep working really yard, you go try to flip this thing around in the last four games ... you've got to continue to right."

Desormeaux also claims his team hasn't given in to the excuses from all the injuries on the offensive line.

"This has been one of the hardest working groups I've been around," he insisted. "We've got eight O-lineman that are out right now. Not one of them in that building has said a word about it - not one person has complained about what we don't have ... not one person has said a thing about the problems we've had.

"These guys are going to bust their rear ends for this team and this university for the rest of the year."

Even more succinctly in defense of his team, Desormeaux claimed, "just because things haven't gone the way that we planned on them going, doesn't mean they're doing things wrong."

The Cajuns did overcome two key interceptions to only trail 28-23 with 7:08 left to play on the road to first-place Troy on Saturday.

Desormeaux maintains the first interception - thrown by Walker Howard in his only play of the game - was just an unlucky development crediting Troy's defense. The second one - thrown by Lunch Winfield on the next drive - he blamed himself.

"The first one was unfortunate," he said. "It's the right decision, right read ... the second one managing the game and the flow of it, that's on me.

"It was maybe trying to do too much to push it down the field on the second one. That was kind of a momentum swing."

Desormeaux also addressed the pressure on head coaches in light of the recent firings, including LSU moving on from Brian Kelly.

"The pressure from the outside is very minimal compared to what's on the inside," Desormeaux said.

"The pressure day after day is to bed to lead your guys into something that they can't see. The pressure day after day is to provide hope when there's not a lot there.

"The pressure day after day is to have the right words, you know, when it's really something that's not very explainable."

In other words, his focus on treating his players properly.

"I feel more pressure about making sure I do things the right way inside of our building and making sure that I'm making sure that everyone knows that they have a lot more value to this organization, to the society than they do just as football players," Desormeaux said.

"Stress and pressure and negativity - all that stuff can't roll downhill and it can't come from me because there's enough of it on the outside."

The injury report is a weekly priority issue in the Monday's media gathering.

Desormeaux said Collin Jacob had surgery Monday morning for his broken arm and he's lost for the rest of the season.

Tight end Caden Jensen "is in concussion protocol."

Right guard Matt Broussard "is most likely going to be out this week. I don't see a scenario where he can come back in and play."

Safety Jalen Clark didn't finish the game, but is expected back at South Alabama.