The window of opportunity is still open for the Kentucky football team, but as head coach Joker Phillips said Monday, the window is getting smaller and smaller with each loss.In the midst of a three-game losing streak, UK’s head coach and players said they remain confident they can rebound from a brutal stretch that will continue with No. 10 South Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m.”I think this team definitely has confidence,” Phillips said. “They can play with anybody in this league. Going toe to toe with the No. 8 team in the country and having a chance to win definitely has to help our confidence.”But any loss, especially a heartbreaking loss like the one Saturday, can be tough for a team to rebound from. Phillips acknowledged as much at his news conference Monday.How a team can come back after putting out so much emotionally and physically will be up to the team’s leaders, Phillips said.”You got to call on your leaders, that’s for sure,” Phillips said. “You guys had a bunch of our leaders in here today. You guys tell me, how did they sound? We haven’t lost those guys.”So how about it, UK leaders – what’s the psyche of the team like after three straight losses and South Carolina, a team Kentucky hasn’t beaten since 1999, headed to town?”We’re upbeat,” sophomore defensive end Collins Ukwu said. “(Auburn was) No. 8 in the nation.”If there’s a positive to take out of a third-straight loss, it’s that the players may have discovered a mentality that might lead to future wins. When Kentucky played angry and fought with emotion, it played remarkably better.It showed both during the week of practice when Randall Cobb said the players had to practice like they were angry and during the second half when UK fell behind by two touchdowns.”It’s hard losing,” Cobb said. “It’s tough losing, especially when you’ve got competitors like we’ve got on our team. When you lose games (at Ole Miss) on the road and you come up so close (to Auburn), that just makes you get fired up and makes you get ready for practice more the next week.”UK can ill-afford to spot South Carolina an early lead, though, as the Gamecocks stomped on the pedal early and never let up against previously unbeaten Alabama.South Carolina’s front four sacked Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy seven times Saturday, but it was the way the South Carolina offense punished a vaunted Crimson Tide defense that has to worry UK. In completing 17 of 20 passes Saturday, quarterback Stephen Garcia upped his SEC-best completion rate to 72.3 percent. Alshon Jeffery has been a big reason behind Garcia’s success. In a league with NFL talents the likes of A.J. Green and Julio Jones, it’s Jeffery that’s beginning to emerge as the Southeastern Conference’s best wide receiver.Jeffery, whose breakout game came against the Cats last year as a freshman, leads the SEC with 34 catches for 625 yards and four touchdowns, including a ridiculous one-handed catch against Alabama with a cornerback blanketed all over him.”He did it against probably the best coverage team in the country,” Phillips said. “(He is) not blessed with great speed but he’s blessed with great athleticism and strong hands. Just a physical guy at the line of scrimmage; a great rebounder.”But wait, there’s more.If UK decides to try to key on Jeffery and take away the passing game, it could be in for a huge mistake. South Carolina features one of the nation’s top runnerms and arguably the best freshman in the nation, in tailback Marcus Lattimore. A 6-foot, 218-pound bruising back, Lattimore has taken the SEC by storm, rushing for 459 yards and eight touchdowns through five games.”(Lattimore is) big, physical, patient,” Phillips said. “He is faster than he looks, similar to (Cameron Newton) we just saw last week. That guy is a lot faster than he looks. Because they’re so big, they don’t look as fast as a guy like that.”Phillips said South Carolina’s ability to run the ball has led to a high third-down conversion rate (55.2 percent) and opened up the passing game.”One of the things that people always put with Steve Spurrier is he’s always throwing the ball well, but when Steve Spurrier has won and won big, they are running the football,” Phillips said.Of course, Spurrier has beaten UK throwing, running, kicking, you name it. Kentucky has still yet to defeat a Spurrier-coached team.That streak does nothing to alter the still strong confidence of the UK football team.”I’ve tried not to mention things like that because we’ve got to play,” Phillips said. “This is a different team, obviously, and we’ve just got to go play to win.”