ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — No. 19 Michigan seems to be relegated to playing just for pride this season.

The Wolverines (5-2, 3-2 Big Ten) were handed a second loss at Penn State, leaving them on the brink of being eliminated from the Big Ten race just past the halfway mark of the regular season.

Michigan went into the season hoping to end its 15-year conference championship drought, the longest in school history, and to perhaps contend for a national championship.

With five scheduled games left to play, those goals appear to be out of reach.

Captain Ben Bredeson, though, insisted there’s plenty to play for this season.

“You can’t let two losses tank your season,” the standout offensive guard said Monday.

The Wolverines will have a chance to earn a measure of respect, and perhaps improve their postseason positioning, if they can beat No. 8 Notre Dame (5-1) on Saturday night at the Big House.

“This isn’t our last game of the year,” defensive tackle Carlo Kemp said. “This isn’t, ‘All right. we’re done. Let’s start packing up and we’ll get ready for next season.’

“We have top 10 matchups coming up. And, the big thing is we have one this Saturday and we have another opportunity on the national stage.”

Michigan also has games remaining against Michigan State and No. 3 Ohio State next month at home.

“We’ve got three of the most important rivalries coming up,” Kemp said. “We got Notre Dame, Michigan State and the game at the end of the year. Those are the games you play for, those are the teams you want to play.”