The WKU football team and the WKU quarterback situation have something in common — they could both use a little consistency.

At his weekly press conference Monday, coach Bobby Petrino said that he was looking for his starting quarterback (or quarterbacks) to be consistent moving forward. Last week was an inconsistent game at the position, as all four WKU passers saw time, but a blowout opportunity against an FCS opponent gave the Toppers a chance to see what they had in all four guys. The team is going to have to get more consistent at the position going forward.

The entire team could use to look at WKU’s starting quarterback quandary and take the lesson from it — for the Toppers to achieve their lofty preseason goals, they are going to have start playing up to their potential in each game.

WKU had a problem with staying consistent last year, too. In 2012 the Toppers rushed out to a 5-1 start, including a program-defining win in Lexington over Kentucky, before hitting a wall halfway through the year — that team finished the regular season 7-5 and lost to Central Michigan in the postseason.

It’s hard to tell what the Toppers could do with a little momentum this year — they haven’t had any yet.

After scoring a big win over Kentucky to start the year, WKU hit a brick wall against Tennessee the next week. The Toppers dropped their next contest, a stunner to South Alabama, before roasting Morgan State at their Smith Stadium opener last Saturday.

The Toppers haven’t looked like the same team in any of their four contests so far this year. That’s going to have to change as they close out their non-conference schedule — after Saturday’s game against Navy, Army is the only team out of the Sun Belt Conference left on WKU’s schedule.

The Midshipmen will bring with them an attack unlike anything the Toppers have faced this year. The triple-option is designed to tear teams up on the ground, and WKU has had trouble stopping the run at times this year — running the ball was how Tennessee was able to suck the air out of any attempt at a comeback in the second half when the two teams played earlier this month, and Navy can run the ground attack better than the Volunteers could.

Saturday stands as an important test for WKU The Topper defense needs to prove it can stand up to one of the top rushing attacks in the country while the offense will have to show it can be effective against FBS competition no matter who the coaching staff chooses to start at quarterback.

A win could be an important tone-setter for the Toppers as they prepare for their final season in the Sun Belt.