It’s a tough pill to swallow for the Penn State faithful.

It seems that the Nittany Lions are always just out of reach of claiming those big-game wins. Despite everything going for Penn State heading into Saturday night with the rankings, the home-field advantage, and the more experienced roster, the blue and white fell short of an AP top-10 win once again.

“If you’re not careful, that negativity can linger, and we’ve had this issue in the past where one loss turns into two because there’s just so much negativity that it’s hard to get the team over it and moved on,” James Franklin said in his weekly press conference Monday. “I think that’s going to be really, really important.”

Franklin’s resume against top teams is dreadful, standing at 4-21 in his career with the Nittany Lions. The 30-24 loss to Oregon was just the latest of what has been a trend for the program since Franklin’s hiring. While this isn’t news to anybody, Franklin is focused on keeping the team positive, noting that the season isn’t over.

During his press conference, Franklin highlighted last year’s national champions, Ohio State, as a prime example of how it’s possible to pick up conference losses and still find a way into the playoffs.

“The team in our conference last year that won the national championship had two conference losses during the season. I think two of the top five teams lost this week,” Franklin said. “So I think college football is different than maybe how it’s been in the past, and you’ve got to do everything you possibly can to put yourself in the best position to get in the playoffs, and then you can make a run.”

Franklin also discussed last year’s Buckeye team with Jim Knowles, who led the Ohio State defense to the promised land last season. The Buckeyes lost to Oregon as well as Michigan last season, knocking them into a first-round playoff game and out of the Big Ten Championship hunt.

Knowles discussed his perspective from last year with the defense, and that a national championship can be acquired even with in-season adversity.

The head coach was adamant about coaching his players about the new format of the College Football Playoff, as it approaches an NFL model, where some of the nation’s best teams will have losses.

“I think you have to make sure you’re clear on that, because I don’t think a lot of people, including our players, recognize that college football has changed,” Franklin said. “I do think it needs to be addressed. I think it needs to be addressed with the players. I think it needs to be addressed with the coaches. Those are things that I can control.”

To Franklin’s earlier point, the top five teams in the rankings had a bad week. The No. 4 LSU Tigers lost to a talented No. 13 Ole Miss team, while No. 5 Georgia once again lost to the No. 17 Alabama Crimson Tide.

After such a shakeup, it feels like a reset has been put on the sphere of college football, and for Penn State, which now stands at No. 7 nationally, will have opportunities down the road to re-enter the top-5.

“I get it, I understand the frustration, but there’s a ton of football to be played,” Franklin said. “There’s a ton of football and opportunities to be played, to go do some special things…We got to bounce back, and we got to bounce back quickly.”