LARAMIE (AP) — It will be a busy week for the University of Wyoming football team.

The Cowboys have two weeks to prepare for their next game, but they also need to work on other things as they head into their first of two bye weeks.

Their next game is Saturday, Oct. 8 at Utah State.

“It’s a great time to have a bye,” coach Dave Christensen said after the Cowboys lost to Nebraska 38-14 last Saturday at Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium. Nebraska moved up to No. 8 Sunday in the latest Associated Press poll.

“We’re 3-1. I like being 3-1. It’s a pretty good position to be in.”

With one-third of its schedule complete, Christensen said the team is “pretty healthy.” He also said the bye week will be used to get healthier, work on fundamentals, fine-tune some areas and “maybe look at a couple of additions to some of things we’re doing.”

And, to get a jump start on Utah State, which lost 35-34 at home to Colorado State last Saturday. The Aggies (1-2) play at Brigham Young (2-2) Friday.

For one UW player, however, the extra week may be tougher to deal with coming off his first-ever collegiate loss.

“Losing hurts. I hate it more than anything else,” true freshman quarterback Brett Smith said. “To me nothing’s really encouraging after a loss. ... We had the right tools to beat that team. We just couldn’t capitalize.”

Smith completed 17 of 33 passes for 166 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. The Cowboys’ 305 yards of total offense was a season-low, and Smith’s 168 yards of total offense snapped a three-game stretch where he gained more than 300 yards.

Smith still is second in the Mountain West in passing (240.8 yards per game) and total offense (279.8 ypg).

Nebraska’s defense did some good things, but UW did even more to hurt itself with seven penalties, 11 missed third and fourth-down conversions, several missed tackles on defense and some special teams miscues.

“There’s nothing shocking about that defense,” junior center Nick Carlson said. “We could have had a lot more yards that we left on the field, whether it was from penalties or not executing our assignments on certain plays.”

“I don’t think anyone was not composed on the field. I think it was just mental errors.”

UW is second in the Mountain West and tied for 32nd nationally with 10 quarterback sacks.

It also has recorded at least one sack in 10 consecutive games.

Three players are in the league’s top 10 in sacks. Junior defensive end/linebacker Korey Jones is second (four), senior defensive tackle Gabe Knapton is tied for third (three) and senior defensive end Josh Biezuns is 10th (two).

Meantime, the Cowboys allowed one sack against Nebraska, and only three this season.

The sack by sophomore defensive tackle Thaddeus Randle was the first UW allowed since the season opener against Weber State.

UW is tied for 17th-best in the country and fourth in the Mountain West in sacks allowed.