About a month ago, some Kansas State fans were declaring the season over.

Now, a sense of redemption and pride has kicked in after the Wildcats' third blowout victory this season. While Kansas State won't fulfill its Big 12 title hopes and postseason aspirations, it can at least be proud of avoiding a losing season.

K-State coach Chris Klieman pinpointed where the season shifted, delivering a blunt message about the team's self-evaluation after losing to Arizona.

“We weren’t playing very well, and the coaches and players owned it,” Klieman said in his Texas Tech pregame press conference. “We weren’t a very good football team, and that’s half the battle. You can blame people and say we’re not doing whatever. No, we just weren’t coaching very well, which starts with me, and we weren’t playing very well. So we had to go back to square one.”

Victories like this fuel the players and shift the tone of the future matchups. The Wildcats need as much of this as possible as they face a conference juggernaut in Texas Tech.

"I don't think you get revived when you get to November, but there’s a lot more juice and energy when you play good football, and it shows," Klieman said. "You win a few games and then go on the road like we did at KU in a game that not a lot of people thought we were gonna win. Then we went and dominated that game, so yeah, that brings a lot of energy to the team and the program."

Kansas State hosts the Red Raiders on Saturday afternoon.

KANSAS STATE RB DYLAN EDWARDS RULED OUT VS. TEXAS TECH

Kansas State is riding high off its most dominant performance over in-state rivals Kansas.

Now, there is a much bigger challenge ahead this Saturday against No. 13 Texas Tech. Even with the dip in AP ranking, the Red Raiders remain one of the country's best teams this season, and are easily the Wildcats' stiffest competition this year.

And unfortunately, they will once again have to do so without running back Dylan Edwards, who's been a regular on the Kansas State injury report this season.

“He’s going to be out again this week,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said in his Texas Tech pregame press conference. “There's something going on with the lower extremity that we continue to do imaging on. The imaging we received on Monday or Tuesday morning says that it wasn't healed. If it's not healed, he’s not gonna play.”