WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point football head coach Jeff Monken met with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Nowak Auditorium.

The Black Knights will take on Air Force Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET at the USAF Academy. The game will be aired on CBS Sports Network.

Army West Point Football Head Coach Jeff Monken

Ref.: Opening Statement"

What's really unique about all of these games is it's a season all in itself when you play the CIC games. I'm sure the other teams feel the same way. We're very fortunate to be in a three-team round robin where you play for a very prestigious award like the Commander in Chief's Trophy and have the opportunity to go to the White House and accept the trophy. It's been just a tremendous honor for us to be able to do that the last couple of years. So, for these games everybody gets fired up. They're great rivalries and I'm sure that both teams in this game are going to be excited to play and will likely have very focused weeks of practice. I hope we will and play as best as we can play. That's what makes these games so good. They're always blood baths and knock down drag them out close games. The game earlier this year between the other two academies was a great matchup and both teams played really hard and really well. We're hopeful we can turn it into a good game this year. Air Force is a good team. They're well-coached. We have to have a great week of practice to prepare and hope to play our best to give ourselves a chance to win."

Ref.: On the Air Force defense.

"They've always done a good job against the run. They've got a good run defense. When you look at their stats each year, they've defended people well. They're very active and they do a good job against this offense. They did a good job against Navy earlier in the year. They did a really good job against us last year. In the game last year, they outgained us. We were fortunate that we had more points, which at the end of the game is what you hope for. They did a good job. (Demonte) Meeks is a good player, but he's not the only one. They've got a couple of guys on that defense that I think are very good players. It's a challenge because they've got some good players and they've got a coaching staff that understands this offense and does a really nice job defending it."

Ref.: on the mood of the team going into this week.

"Well, they haven't been in today and we take Monday's off, but when you're on a stretch like this, nobody feels good. Nobody feels good about where we're at. We're disappointed, frustrated and ticked off. Our kids are playing hard. It's not for a lack of effort, that's for sure. It's a lack of execution. Football is blocking and tackling, and it's getting off blocks and running through tackles. That's always been football and that's what it will always be. We have to do a better job of that. There are other parts to the game, like covering receivers and running routes, but collectively we have to do a better job all-around of executing."We're coming up short far too often and it's hard. You're not going to have a great smile on your face or a calm pleasant demeanor when you're on a four-game losing streak. There's going to be some anguish because guys care. They're invested, the coaches are invested, and I feel the same way. We're not satisfied at all and we want to win. We're working as hard as we can and I know our kids are working as hard as they can. We're going to fight our butt off and do the best we can to get a win this week."