Tri-Cities Fever players and coaches have said the last three games are all about playing for pride.
Tonight will be a good indication how much pride they have and how motivated they are to end a five-game losing streak.
The Fever (4-10) has gone from team with an outside chance to make the playoffs to a team trying to stay out of last place. And a loss against Stockton would assure Tri-Cities of finishing in last place in the West Division standings.
The teams have split their first two games with each team winning on the road.
"That right there should give them some motivation," said Fever coach Cedric Walker.
The Fever is coming off a franchise-record fifth straight loss and fourth straight setback by more than 18 points.
Tri-Cities has not won a game since May 31 when it beat Boise 57-46 at Toyota Center.
Since its last-second 62-61 to Central Valley on June 7, the Fever offense has gone dormant.
Tri-Cities has averaged just 31.5 points per game, and a lot of the blame has been placed on the shoulders of the Fever's two quarterbacks.
Tali Ena and John Pierce have struggled to find any consistency under center and have heard the occasional boos from the home crowds.
During the last four games, the two have combined to complete just 67 of 148 passes (45 percent) for 822 yards and 15 touchdowns to go with 10 interceptions.
But their low may have came last week when the two combined to throw a franchise-tying five interceptions in a 51-31 loss to Amarillo in the team's final home game of the season.
Pierce, who started for the second straight week, was just 13 of 28 for 140 yards and two touchdowns and two interceptions. Ena was 4 of 10 for 53 yards and one touchdown to go with three interceptions.
"We just have to go out and play and execute," Ena says. "We have been trying to do too much."
Ena and Pierce are expected to share duties in the final two games, as Walker is not expected to make any drastic roster moves.
So with the same roster and the same quarterbacks, how is tonight going to be any different than the previous five games?
"We're football players and we want to finish things out the right way," Ena said. "This has been very stressful, and we're sick of losing."
w Walker said one of the keys to beating Stockton is to slow down its pass rush. The Lightning is tied for first in the West Division with 26 sacks, ranking 11th in the af2.
w Receiver J.R. Thomas is 12 yards away from the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season. In 13 games he has 80 catches for 988 yards and a team-high 21 touchdowns.
w Receiver LaMonte Jones is one reception away from 100 for the season and currently ranks ninth in the af2 with 99 catches. Jones is also just eight catches away from his career high (107) he set in 2006 in Central Valley.
w Fever fullback Michael Hodges was placed on the practice squad with an injured ankle, and defensive back Ray Little has been activated.