GREENVILLE — Pirate Nation has seen the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of East Carolina's remaining schedule and it doesn't appear to be an oncoming freight train.

The combined record of the five teams the Pirates face to close the regular season is an underwhelming 10-20. None of the five has a winning overall record.

The opportunity appears to be there for a strong finish for ECU. The Pirates can contend for a Conference USA championship and get back to a bowl if they put together five efforts similar to the performance that produced a 41-7 league win over Memphis at Homecoming on Saturday.

The possibility of running the table starts at Alabama-Birmingham next week and requires the end of an up and down trend that has characterized the Pirates (4-3, 3-1 C-USA) this season.

Without fail, the Pirates have followed every win with a loss. To wit: win (35-13, Appalachian State), loss (10-48, at South Carolina), win (24-14, at Southern Miss), loss (6-27, at North Carolina), win (28-18, Texas-El Paso) and loss (20-40, at Central Florida) before continuing the pattern against the outmanned Tigers at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

"We know the record," said ECU sophomore quarterback Shane Carden after Saturday's contest. "We know we've got to come out each week and play hard. We've discussed that. We can't have a win and a loss. We're fired up for this schedule. We've really got to focus. We've got to play like we know we can play next week and the week after that. We've got to continue to play hard and be fired up each week."

Carden, who completed 25 of 33 for 308 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions, believes the win over Memphis can be a building block.

"We play 11-man football," he said. "We've said that a lot this year and it held true tonight. It kind of reassured us to where we said, 'Hey, let's just do our job, not try to do anything extra, but play 11-man football and we'll score points.' "

The focus against Memphis was keeping momentum throughout the game. Now, the challenge is to carry the momentum into a thorough performance next week at UAB.

One obstacle at UAB is the environment at Legion Field. The cavernous structure with a listed capacity of 72,000 is generally devoid of spectators at Blazers games. The fan vacuum tripped up Southern Miss during its C-USA championship season in 2011. Despite wins over West Virginia, South Carolina, Miami and N.C. State in 1999, the Pirates came up on the short end at UAB. ECU has a 2-3 record on the road against the Blazers.

"We've got to come out and be enthusiastic," Carden said. "It's a big game for us. Every game is going to be a big game for us. We know that. I don't think we'll have any problem starting fast and being ready for the next game."

The ECU coaching staff has already started getting the Pirates prepared for the unique conditions they will encounter.

"Coach K (inside receivers coach Donnie Kirkpatrick) told us that it's going to be difficult in the sense that it's not what we're used to," said Justin Jones, who had five catches for 80 yards and three touchdowns against Memphis. "Everywhere we've gone we've had a pretty good crowd. The last time we were there (a 54-42 ECU win in 2010), people compared it to a middle school game as far as the stands go."

The Homecoming king coincidentally on Saturday also was named Justin Jones, no relation.

Jones, the player, said ECU will have to draw from within rather than feed off the energy of a crowd next week.

"We've got to stick to what we do best," said the 6-foot-8 junior, who had not had a scoring reception this season. "It's not going to be any louder than it is out at practice. ... We've just got to execute fundamentals and put points on the board."

Justin Hardy was obviously ready against Memphis as he set an early tone with a 67-yard catch and run for a TD. The sophomore, who stood out in pink stirrups, had six catches for 137 yards and two scores. He says the key is for the Pirates to be ready regardless of the circumstances.

"We can't worry about the crowd," Hardy said. "We've got to come out whether there's one person or 30,000 in the stadium. People being in the stands is not going to affect us too much."

Hardy's score just one minute, 19 seconds into the game Saturday restored the momentum that had vacated the Pirates last week at Central Florida.

"We started off fast like we wanted to and we just went with it," said the West Craven product.

Outside linebacker Gabriel Woullard said the Pirates are aware of their up and down tendency. Woullard shared the team lead in tackles with 10, including two for losses, against the Tigers (1-5, 1-1).

"We're going to try to break this trend next week at UAB," Woullard said. "We know it's a tough place to go in to, but we're still going to prepare the way we always do."

Pirates coach Ruffin McNeill was pleased that the Pirates maintained momentum after a 14-0 lead at UCF transformed into a 40-20 loss nine nights earlier. ECU led 14-0 against Memphis and extended the margin to 41-0 before Memphis scored.

"Grasping momentum and getting it back if you lose it applies to every thing we teach them," said the ECU coach. "It applies in life, too. There's good days and bad days. Ride those good days out and fight through the bad days.

"We hope this momentum carries into next week. We plan on it carrying into next week. UAB lost a tough one (39-17 to Houston on Saturday) but they've played a pretty tough schedule like we have. I haven't watched any film of them but I think our players believed in what we were working on and attempted not to make the same mistake twice.

" ... We're playing smart and we're playing together. Momentum, I think, is a big thing for us. ... I'm thinking it will carry over to next week. I'm hoping it does."

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