MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (WCIA) — Illinois football touched down in the Twin Cities on Friday afternoon as they go north looking to kick start what they hope will be a November to remember.

The season has been far from that so far, the Illini are in last place in the Big Ten West with just one conference win. 3-5 overall is now where many people had the Illini two-thirds of the way through the season, giving up 18 fourth quarter points to Wisconsin in a home loss before the bye week is case in point for how the season has gone. There is still hope to get that magic bowl number of six wins. To do it though, they will have to win three out of the final four games.

“We just gonna continue working and continue take that next step cause we all know we haven’t played our best game yet,” cornerback Taz Nicholson said. “That’s still like a challenge we try to fix.”

“The big thing coach is preaching right now is respect,” tight end Tanner Arkin said. “We need to gain respect throughout these last four games and show everyone what we can do.”

“You gotta finish everything you start and it’s hard to win,” defensive coordinator Aaron Henry said. “It’s hard to win in this conference, it’s hard to win overall, Just like life, it ain’t easy, you gotta go out there and take what’s yours.”

Illinois kicks off against Minnesota on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on Big Ten Network.