South Alabama wasn’t left with much time to wallow in a last-second loss to Central Michigan last week, not with one of the best teams in the Sun Belt Conference waiting on Saturday.

The Jaguars (2-2) travel to meet James Madison (4-0, 1-0 Sun Belt) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium in Harrisonburg, Va. Kane Wommack’s USA team is searching for some consistency after following up a 33-7 win at Oklahoma State with a 34-30 home loss to the Chippewas.

RELATED: 5 takeaways from South Alabama’s 34-30 loss to Central Michigan

“I’ve seen the best in this team and I’ve seen the worst in this team in four games,” Wommack said. “And as much as I hate inconsistency, that is what we have shown to a degree — at times, we were an inconsistent football team. Those are the things that we’ve got to continue to work on.

“The best that we can ask for is that our players work to get those things fixed. And if we do, we are a challenge to deal with as a football team.”

It wasn’t so much that South Alabama lost to Central Michigan as the way the Jaguars lost, giving away leads both early and late with undisciplined play. The Chippewas scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining, only after the Jaguars gave them new life on a key play with less than a minute remaining.

Central Michigan would have been facing fourth-and-7 from the USA 35, needing to either go for it or attempt a long field goal to erase the Jaguars’ 30-27 lead. Instead, South Alabama linebacker Quentin Wilfawn let the Chippewas off the hook by getting called for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that gave CMU first down at the 20 and set up the winning touchdown three plays later.

Wommack did not say exactly what Wilfawn did to draw the penalty, though he was apparently upset that Central Michigan offensive tackle Brayden Swartout lay down on him after he fell to the ground at the end of the play. Wilfawn had words with an official afterward, resulting in the flag.

“We had an incredibly self-inflicted penalty there by someone who is a great young man, does things the right way in our program,” Wommack said. “He got overwhelmed by the moment. As a competitor, I think all of us can understand that … you’re going to have moments where your mettle is really tested. And yet at the same time, we all can understand that that truly hurt this football team’s opportunity to win the game.

“So, he’s got to be able to … hold himself accountable to that, as well as myself as a head coach, holding him accountable. We’ve had some great conversations about what to do moving forward to make sure that does not happen again. I think he has taken great ownership of that, but certainly, a very tough lesson for our team to have to learn. And yet that’s exactly where we are.”

Even had the Jaguars managed to hold on and win the game, they’d need to make a quick reset before entering conference play this week. Like South Alabama, James Madison has a victory over a Power 5 opponent this year (Virginia) and also won at Troy two weeks ago.

Long a power in the FCS ranks, JMU has made a seamless transition to FBS play. Curt Cignetti’s Dukes are 12-3 the last two seasons, including 7-2 vs. Sun Belt opponents.

“(Cignetti) is a very disciplined, detailed coach, who takes what’s given,” Wommack aid. “His team plays good, sound football, complementary football… When you look at their team, they play with less mistakes than their opponents and that’s been a big piece of their execution thus far.”

James Madison has won this year both in shootouts — 36-35 over Virginia and 45-38 at Utah State — and defensive struggles (16-14 over Troy) this year. The Dukes are 45-8 overall and 26-2 at home under Cignetti, a former Nick Saban assistant at Alabama.

JMU is especially stout against the run on defense, allowing just 41.5 yards per game and 1.4 yards per carry on the ground. The Dukes have recorded 18 sacks in four games, including five in last week’s win at Utah State.

“They’re a great defense all around,” South Alabama offensive coordinator Major Applewhite said. “The first thing that stands out is the effort to find the ball. They create takeaways through just sheer effort. … They’re tied together in their effort, they’re tied together in their scheme. When they’re blitzing, they know how to take care of their buddy on the back end when they’re creating pressure. So they’re very well tied together.”

After losing three starters or key rotation players for the year due to injury in the first two weeks, South Alabama exited the Central Michigan game relatively healthy. Starting left tackle Josh McCulloch missed his second straight game with a nagging knee injury, but there were no serious new injuries to speak of.

Through the first four weeks, South Alabama ranks in the middle of the pack in the Sun Belt in most offensive and defensive categories. Defensive efficiency has been troubling, however, particularly after the Jaguars allowed Central Michigan to go 9-for-16 on third down — 4-for-6 on third-and-8 or longer.

“Those are the moments you have to get off the field,” Wommack said. “I thought our defense played on their heels too often against some of their quarterback runs. We were too soft at the point of attack, not decisive enough. We let that bleed all the way into the third and fourth quarter and the final drive of the game. I thought we had moments where we battled back really well, but really the indicator of the game was their third-down conversion percentage.”

Saturday’s South Alabama-James Madison game will be televised live by ESPNU.