BLOOMINGTON - First-year Bloomington Extreme coach Kenton Carr spent part of this week studying the United Indoor Football's standings where his team is planted in first place in the East Division. | Extreme page | Gameday glance

He liked what he saw.

"I still can't believe it," Carr said.

Despite being plagued by tackling woes, injuries and inconsistent play through eight games, the Extreme enters Saturday's 7:05 p.m. game against RiverCity with a chance to increase its divisional lead over the second-place Rage.

"We're in first place by only half a game," linebacker Blue Aldridge said. "Especially in this league and in this game, anything can happen in any game. We know this is a very good football team coming in. We have to stay at our best to be able to win the game."

However, the home turf of U.S. Cellular Coliseum has been unkind as the Extreme have lost three of four games and are 7-13 all-time.

"We've been a pretty good road team," he said. "I don't know why. It's usually you're better at home. We've got to turn it around. I think the guys know that we've just got to start winning here."

Getting a home victory has been a focus this week.

"It's just going to be a matter of us pulling together and that's something we really need to take care of," Aldridge said. "You can't lose in your house. Being 1-3 is not acceptable."

Although the pressure to deliver a home victory is high, Aldridge indicated that the team has been loose this week in practice.

"That's what it needs to be," he said. "That's how you play."

The Extreme (4-4) also has to play with more aggression.

"We got to show a little more enthusiasm," Carr said. "And I thought we did that last week (in a 53-49 win at Sioux City). I think last week we started coming together and saying, 'Hey, we're a team. We're a family.' That's what we're trying to do right now."

RiverCity has lost four straight, with three of the losses at home. That means the Extreme must attack early against a team that is reeling.

"If we can come out in the first half and keep them down and hammer it to them, they might back down," Aldridge said. "We just got to keep the pressure on them."

With a 20-hour, one-way trip to Billings, Mont., looming next Saturday, Bloomington knows this is the perfect opportunity to win two straight, increase its divisional lead and establish confidence.

"It'd be very nice for us to take the momentum of a two-game win streak to Billings," Aldridge said. "For us to take momentum into next week would be huge for us."

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Rage at Extreme

When: 7:05 p.m.Saturday

Where: U.S. Cellular Coliseum

Records: Rage 3-4; Extreme 4-4

Radio: WTRX-FM (93.7)