RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Louisville's knack for rolling up big points and bigger stats is rivaled only by its propensity for giving up long touchdowns and equally huge chunks of yards.

Now, after a two-week free-fall from the Top 10 to out of the national rankings, the suddenly under-fire Cardinals look to prevent another lesser team from exploiting their porous pass coverage when they visit North Carolina State on Saturday.

"We talk a lot about (criticism) -- that we've got to hang together, got to continue to fight, continue to stare adversity in the face and knock it down," Louisville coach Steve Kragthorpe said. "We know there's going to be some criticism out there, and we accept that. That's the nature of my job and the nature of being a college football player at the Division I level.

"But we have to focus on the task at hand and try to minimize as many distractions as we possibly can and keep focus on trying to be a better football team every day.&