Head coach Gary Patterson had few complaints about his team’s performance in this weekly press conference, but said he expects a tough road game against Air Force.

Patterson said losing in the team’s last visit to Colorado Springs would not be a major motivator for this week’s game.

“There were a lot of things that were said to us (after the loss in 2007), and still we went over and stood behind (the Air Force team) and listened to their alma mater, but that was two years ago,” Patterson said. “That gave us a little fire a year ago to be able to play like we played. Every year, it’s always something and by the end of the week, I’ll find something to be mad about.”

Air Force will have plenty of motivation. The Horned Frogs handed Air Force their worst loss last year, a 44-10 beating in Fort Worth.

TCU has faced tough weather conditions the last two weeks when they played in heavy rain, but this week they might have to contend with low temperatures. Online weather reports are predicting a chance of snow showers and a low in the 30s Saturday night, and the Frogs will take the field at 6:30 CDT.

“”I’m starting to think (bad weather is) the norm for us,” Patterson said. “I’ll start to get scared when we get sunshine. It looks like we’ll have snow, rain and about 39 degrees. You know me – there won’t be a coat on.”

Patterson also reviewed the team’s performance so far this season.

“You’d have to give (the team) an ‘A’ because you won,” Patterson said. “That’s the only grade that you have … Up to this point, we’re okay. Now we have to find a way to be one point better than Air Force, then Colorado State.”

The coach’s biggest qualm so far was not playing a “smooth” game yet, but they have shown a quality he likes in his teams.

“(The team) knows how to win in tough situations,” Patterson said. “We haven’t had a smooth ball game yet. Texas State moved the ball more than what we wanted. Clemson we had to stop two times in the red zone and last week, we were playing in somebody’s Super Bowl … Especially offensively, we didn’t particularly play that well, but because of the help of special teams, we won 39-14.”

While he was happy with the year so far, Patterson also said that the team’s schedule to open the season has limited his expectations.

“If you look realistically (at the schedule) you know you had to go on the road to Virginia, Clemson, Air Force and BYU, you realistically try to reach for 6-1,” Patterson said. “Those are all four tough road games.”

The team moved to 4-0 with Saturday’s win over SMU. Air Force will be the Frogs’ first game in conference play. Air Force already has wins over New Mexico and San Diego State.

Junior receiver Jimmy Young, who was also at the press conference, said it is a relief to be out of non-conference play, and facing a familiar foe.

“You get a feel of what (conference opponents) tend to do and how they handle themselves on defense, so it’s good to get into conference just to get to some things you’re used to,” Young said.

Check dailyskiff.com for video of head coach Gary Patterson’s Tuesday press conference.