No matter the pain of it, head coach Mickey Mental says it’s just one game for Weber State football, who is now 2-2 overall this season and 0-1 in the Big Sky.

Still, there’s a balance to strike: things can’t stay exactly the same after a loss like that but, in Mental’s words, good teams don’t panic after one result against a good team.

So what should stay the same and what needs to change?

Mental says Weber State’s foundation remains unchanged. The approach to practice and game preparation is proven over time, so it shouldn’t change.

“What are you built on? Working hard, having the right mindset day in and day out, you don’t change that. That’s the standard,” Mental said. “It’s one day. You can’t make it a bigger deal than it is.”

But his message to WSU players, he says, has been that any improvements they want to see begin with the details. For players, that’s handling training and treatment, dialing in on film study, making sure your social life is good outside of football, and eliminating outside noise.

For coaches, he looks for slight changes that affect winning.

“Are we putting guys in the right positions to be successful? It’s looking for what can we tweak a little,” Mental said. “The nice thing is it wasn’t an effort thing, that’s the first thing you look at. But we have things to clean up.”

In the 40-0 loss to Montana State, WSU quarterback Kylan Weisser was just 14 of 29 for 101 yards. Mental said after the game that consistent completions are a must.

But he’s sticking to the approach he outlined for the evaluation of quarterbacks in fall camp. Mental said there’s an ongoing competition, but his is a whole-sample approach that considers how players are preparing and performing day to day in practice and in games, and not a decision from a one-day snapshot.

“The hardest thing for a coach is to be patient and not jump to conclusions. We faced two really good teams in Utah and Montana State,” he said. “But where is the process heading? Are we seeing the results of practice, seeing the growth there? … We look at, are they making good decisions, taking care of the football, controlling what needs to be controlled at your position?

“We’ve had those conversations with those guys and we’re on the same page.”

The Wildcats leave town Friday for a road trip to winless Northern Colorado, set for a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff.