AUBURN | With the Penn State loss in the rearview mirror, No. 23 Auburn hosts Georgia State Saturday with a chance to build some momentum before the start of a brutal conference schedule.

This week has given the players an opportunity to correct the mistakes from PSU and work to shore up a few problem areas including the passing game on offense and the pass rush and pass coverage on defense.

“We’ve got to get better,” said senior linebacker Chandler Wooten. “Everybody realizes it’s a long season, there’s a lot of work to get done and there’s plenty of time for all of us.”

The Nittany Lions were AU’s first big test of the season. The 28-20 loss was a competitive one where several key plays made the difference including a fumble to open the third quarter that PSU turned into a touchdown and a missed opportunity on 4th and goal at the 2-yard line late in the game.

“We’ve got a group of fighters,” said Wooten. “Obviously we didn’t get the outcome we wanted but everybody played extremely hard. That’s just the kind of standard that has been set here at Auburn before us. That is the standard.”

Auburn faces a tough stretch of SEC games following this weekend starting with next Saturday’s trip to LSU where AU hasn’t won since 1999. The next four games are against ranked opponents: No. 2 Georgia, at No. 16 Arkansas, No. 13 Ole Miss and at No. 7 Texas A&M.

For first-year Auburn coach Bryan Harsin, however, the focus this week has been on the Panthers and improving his own team.

“We have a chance to be at home and for us to really focus on the things that we have to work on,” said Harsin. “I think one of the things in the last game that we have to continue to improve on is the discipline of everybody in this program and staying focused on the things that matter, staying focused on the things that are going to help us be successful.

“And then continue on with making sure that we continue to emphasize the things that are important and we make those important. And we fix the things that we need to correct as we move into this next week.”

Kickoff at Jordan-Hare Stadium is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT on SEC Network.