OGDEN — Finding the strength to bounce back from a loss that could mean no trip to the playoffs, allowing time to heal from injuries and overcoming an event that has already disrupted the team and has the potential to do more damage.

Weber State’s football team has a lot to do during its bye week, and how the Wildcats handle these situations will likely determine if they will have any success in their final two regular-season games.

“You’ve just got to reset your goals and our goal now obviously is to win the last two games and get to the playoffs,” said WSU coach Ron McBride.

As they return to the practice field today for the first time this week, the No. 19 Wildcats (5-4, 5-2 Big Sky Conference) are still recovering from Saturday’s 31-10 loss at Montana, which erased any hope WSU had at a Big Sky championship. In the aftermath of that loss, details have surfaced surrounding running back Trevyn Smith’s half-game suspension on Nov. 24.

The team’s initial reasoning for the suspension was that Smith had violated team rules by missing a team meeting on the night before the game against Northern Colorado in the hotel.

While no details were given as to why Smith missed the meeting, people within the WSU athletic department and WSU football players have recently confirmed to the Standard-Examiner that Smith had passed out in his room that night after he drank an undisclosed amount of alcohol. Smith was unable to be made coherent for the team meeting.

WSU athletic director Jerry Bovee said the athletic department had no further comment about the situation, that it is sticking to the original statement that Smith was suspended for a violation of team rules and would not give any additional information.

Bovee did say the university is concerned about its student-athletes and works with student-athletes to overcome problems.

“It’s something (Smith is) going to have to get through,” McBride said. “We’re doing things to help him and it’s a tough situation.”

During his redshirt year at WSU in 2005, Smith was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol in Salt Lake City, and then during his freshman season he was arrested for unlawful consumption of alcohol by a minor by a WSU campus police officer.

Smith’s suspension, which was voted on by team captains, was for the first half of WSU’s 28-20 win at Northern Colorado. Following the game McBride said he elected not to play Smith in the second half, because freshman Bo Bolen, who finished the day with 207 yards, was playing so well. McBride said Smith, who was dressed on the sidelines the entire game, was eligible to play.

During the week following the incident, Smith did not comment on what happened. However he did acknowledge he had made a mistake and hoped that his teammates forgave him heading into the meeting with the league-leading Grizzlies.

“I owe them an apology and I want them to know I’m going to do everything in my power to give them the best game in my life and earn their respect back because I really believe in them,” Smith said on Oct. 27. “Those guys have worked hard and played out of their minds on Saturday (against Northern Colorado). It was their best game on Saturday and it was hard on me to not be a part of it.”

However, Smith’s statistics weren’t impressive, as he gained 64 yards on 20 carries against the Grizzlies. Since the loss, some of Smith’s teammates secretly questioned his dedication to the team, something McBride disputes as a reason for the low rushing yards.

“No, it was a lack of blocking,” McBride said. “The lack of execution had an impact on the game. It wasn’t his ability not to get yards, it was the offensive line not creating creases for him and the fullback not doing a good enough job.”

Smith led the Big Sky in rushing during each of his first three seasons at WSU, and hopes to be the first player in league history to do so for four consecutive seasons. He is now third in the race for the league rushing title, averaging 98.5 yards per game behind Montana’s Chase Reynolds (102.8) and Eastern Washington’s Taiwan Jones (100.3).

Smith still has the chance to move to the top of the list by the end of the season.

The Wildcats are also using this week to get healthy. Defensive end Ryan Eastman tore his MCL in his left knee against the Grizzlies, frustrating for the sophomore since he recently returned to the field after injuring his right knee in the second game of the season. WSU hopes to have Eastman back for its next game against Northern Arizona on Nov. 14, however McBride said it might be too optimistic to hope to have Eastman back so quickly.