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RALEIGH (AP) — The open date on the schedule has been good to N.C. State the past two seasons. Coming out of their bye week, Wolfpack players and coaches are looking for another jolt.

"We're ready for almost a new beginning, a second chance at the season," center Ted Larsen said. "I think everybody is looking forward to going out there and kind of starting over."

N.C. State (3-4, 0-3 ACC) has lost three straight and is winless in October, finishing with blowout losses to Duke and Boston College in which it allowed 101 points and 982 yards. But with this weekend's trip to Florida State, the Wolfpack has another chance to put together the kind of late-season surge that defined coach Tom O'Brien's first two seasons in Raleigh.

His first team in 2007 shook off a 1-5 start to win four straight games and contend for a bowl invitation. Last year, the Wolfpack won four straight to end the regular season — including a road rout of ranked rival North Carolina — after a 2-6 start and reached the postseason.

Can N.C. State, which needs to win four of its final five games to become bowl eligible, bounce back yet again?

"I really believe so," cornerback DeAndre Morgan said. "After the week when we have our bye week, we always come together as a team. We've just got to push forward and continue to fight. For some reason, we just play a little bit better in the second half of the season."

N.C. State figured it was positioned for a run at a division championship with all-ACC quarterback Russell Wilson and eight home games. But it has allowed at least 30 points in four straight games, which has the coaching staff planning to use its seventh starting secondary in eight games.

Redshirt freshman cornerback C.J. Wilson, who hasn't started since the season opener, has worked his way back into the lineup for the game against the Seminoles.

"We just feel that he gives us the best chance we have in the secondary," O'Brien said. "That was part of last week — to try to realign the seventh different starting group in eight games. It's been a struggle, but hopefully he'll be the answer."