WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue was surprisingly good in its first two games, then surprisingly bad in its third.

The lightly regarded Boilermakers showed promise in a 52-31 win over Toledo and a 38-36 loss at Oregon that was a barely missed two-point conversion pass away from overtime.

Last week, they took a step back. Purdue was a double-digit favorite against Northern Illinois, but lost 28-21 at home after trailing by three touchdowns in the third quarter.

The Boilermakers head into Saturday's home game against in-state rival Notre Dame in need of a jolt to regain the excitement that had been building at the start of coach Danny Hope's first season.

"Saturday was obviously very disappointing for us," Purdue linebacker Joe Holland said. "We came in on Sunday and watched the film, and you could tell everybody was pretty upset about how the game went. We came out to practice Sunday to practice, and it kind of struck us — it's Notre Dame week."

Purdue's defense has struggled all season. The Boilermakers have allowed 32.3 points and 434.3 yards per game. Hope said the constant has been poor tackling.

"We're not playing as well as we can or need to on defense," he said. "No question about that."

Hope also said the Boilermakers didn't approach the Northern Illinois game properly.

"I don't think we were as emotional as we needed to be," he said. "Not quite on the cutting edge in some ways, you know. But we didn't play soft. We made a lot of mistakes. You can't do that against a good football team. They didn't make very many mistakes."

Hope expects the Boilermakers to bounce back.

"I would expect our team to respond," he said. "You know, a bad half of football doesn't take away years of effort and the other football that's played and the great opportunities that are in front of us now. We've got to keep things in perspective."

Purdue started the season off in style. The Boilermakers ran for 315 yards against Toledo, and Ralph Bolden ran for 234 yards, the third-best total in school history.

The Boilermakers went to Oregon feeling confident, and they nearly got the big win the program has lacked in recent years. Trailing 38-30, the Boilermakers' Keith Smith found Aaron Valentin with a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:01 left. But Kyle Adams was out of bounds when he caught Joey Elliott's pass that would have tied the score, and Oregon held on.

Instead of taking the momentum from that solid effort, the Boilermakers fell flat.

"The first two weeks, looking back on them, were very positive," Elliott said. "I think we kind of lost our focus, of being positive, and going out there and not playing scared."

Elliott said the loss to Northern Illinois won't be forgotten, even if the Boilermakers beat Notre Dame.

"I wouldn't look at it as canceling out anything," Elliott said. "I look back on the schedule and a loss is a loss. We fought hard at Oregon. Well, there's an 'L' next to it, it's going to be on our permanent record. There's a lot of things we've learned from it as a team and a coaching staff, where we need to go in the future."

A win would, however, give Purdue momentum heading into the Big Ten season and improve its bowl prospects.

"A win this Saturday would be huge for our team, huge for coach Hope, and really kind of pick up the spirit a little bit," Holland said.