By all counts, UTEP's Conference USA opener against Louisiana Tech finds the 1-3 Miners at a turning point in their season.

As far as coach Scotty Walden is concerned, the turning point has already happened. He feels it began with a players-only meeting Monday, followed by what he termed the most physical practice in his tenure on Tuesday, Sept. 23.

This is all part of the fallout from the 31-25 loss to Louisiana-Monroe when UTEP came out too listless and dug too big of a hole to recover from. In a sense if was the opposite of what Louisiana Tech did earlier this year when it went to Louisiana State and played the No. 3 team in the country very well, then returned home and took care of business with a big win against New Mexico State.

UTEP coach Scotty Walden: Losing is 'best teac

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