At some point, you get sick of losing. You either do something about it or quit.

A 1-7 mark, lopsided blowouts, heartbreaks in overtime and everywhere in between, the Boilermakers' season can take a toll on anybody. But that hasn't been the case, at least not yet, for the locker room.

For Ryan Walters and company, the level of desire and work ethic has not wavered despite the struggles of the program this season.

"I do feel like and believe and have seen that they are held tight together and continue to work. We've had guys all through the building today, and it's their day off, getting extra film study in and extra work in the weight room," Walters said.

"So I do appreciate this team's resolve from that standpoint, and their desire to dive into the work and dig into the process and continue to fight."

Perhaps leading the most integral part of that is the players seeing the positives, even the smallest of which, that help provide optimism and belief for a roster that desperately needs it.

"I think through the failures that we've had this year, we've been able to point out reasons why, and have done our best to provide solutions so that you can point to areas where you can improve. And I think if you provide those, and then you see the improvement, you know, from some of those areas of mistakes, then it generates and keeps belief within your roster. And I think that's where we're at," Walters said.

Walters also pointed to how the coaching staff has gone about their approach this season, and staying locked in to the process set forth by themselves and the head coach.

"You have to be consistent in your approach. You can't ride the wave of emotion and start acting on impulse, because, I think then there creates doubt. You don't want doubt to start creeping in, that's when you start getting the locker room divided," Walters said.

The commitment from Walters and the Boilermakers to get things back on track or even start moving things in the right direction, remains, but all of that work has yet to pay off for the Boilermakers.

"We want to win games, and we're working tirelessly to do so, but you know, the motivation is in the competition and the individual desire to get better," Walters said.

It's a good thing that's the case, because Purdue's going to need it moving forward. An already brutal schedule is set to get harder, with the upper echelon of college football set to take Purdue's best shot over the next month.

A stretch against three of the top eight teams in the nation begins with a trip to Columbus to take on No. 3 Ohio State. The Buckeyes are once again at the top of the top in the college football world, surprise, surprise.

Ryan Day and company have assembled what is considered one of the most talented rosters in the nation, and have lived up to their preseason hype, despite hiccup against No. 1 Oregon a few weeks ago. They bounced back with a win over formerly No. 3 Penn State last week and look to use that as a springboard for the latter portion of the season.

"Very, very talented roster, right? So you couple the talented roster with the level of coaching that isn at Ohio State, I got a lot of respect for a lot of those guys and staff there, that's why you get a team like Ohio State," Walters said.

The opportunity to play in historic Ohio Stadium, against top five teams and Big Ten title challengers is what players dream of and they'll have their shot at making their own history this weekend.

"Looking forward to playing in a venue that's as historic as Ohio State and looking forward to the one competing against the best. You know, that is why you play in this conference. That's why you come to a school like Purdue, is to be able to go compete with and give your all against some of the better teams in the country," Walters.

Ohio State presents all of the motivation Purdue needs, which will be an important factor for a Purdue team looking to find some sort of momentum heading into the final four games of the season.

"The motivation is in the competition and the opportunities to go compete in some of the great venues in this conference, and again, some of the premier teams in college football. So that's the motivation," Walters said.

Purdue has had a flair for the dramatic before. That magic of the "Spoilermakers" history is buried somewhere and Purdue will look to find it to avoid a 1-11 campaign in West Lafayette.