Linebacker Patrick Lavine thinks he could take the disappointment a little easier if Oklahoma State's BCS dreams had ended in a gentler way.

To see his team lose to its biggest rival with its most uninspired performance of the season didn't settle so well.

"If we came to play and they came to play and at the end of the game they beat us, but we were able to say, `We did all we could,' that wouldn't have been frustrating at all," Lavine said Tuesday as the No. 21 Cowboys turned their focus to the Cotton Bowl. "But we weren't able to say that because we just didn't step up.

"No one made plays. We were doing things that we hadn't done all season, and it showed."

Going into the regular season finale at Oklahoma, the Cowboys (9-3) had positioned themselves to appear in the Bowl Championship Series for the first time if they could defeat a Sooners squad depleted by injuries to Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, four starting offensive linemen and others.

Instead, Oklahoma State lost 27-0 _ getting shut out for the first time since 2005 _ and settled for the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2 against Mississippi (8-4) at the Dallas Cowboys' stadium.

Coach Mike Gundy said that "if you're in it for the right reason, you'll never get over those games."

"You have to move forward, and that's something that we had talked about after the game," Gundy said. "I think the coaches have to be enthusiastic about getting back on the practice field and the chance to go to the Cotton Bowl and spend time together. That's the way we've approached it.

"Getting back to work for the coaching staff, for me personally, it's what I enjoy doing. And then getting back on the field, it's like somebody pours cold water over you."

The defeat hasn't been easy for everyone to wash away, though. The Cowboys got two weeks off after the regular season before beginning preparations for the Cotton Bowl, time to focus on final exams but also to dwell on what could have been.

"That's just something you can't get off your mind," Lavine said. "The OU game, that was something that was on everybody's mind for a week."

Oklahoma State rose to No. 5, its highest ranking since 1985, after a season-opening win against Georgia but followed that landmark victory with an upset loss at home against Houston. Their other chances for defining wins ended up as 27-point blowouts against Texas and Oklahoma.

Now, the Cowboys hope to save face with a victory against Mississippi _ another one of the four teams featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the preseason as potential BCS contenders.