Some University of Cincinnati football fans have been calling for a change at quarterback, with the Bearcats (2-5, 0-3 American Athletic Conference East) having lost their last four games.

Junior quarterback Hayden Moore has started every game this year, but sophomore Ross Trail saw action late in the Bearcats' 33-3 loss at South Florida last Saturday. Moore aggravated an elbow injury he had suffered the week before, which was the main reason that Trail entered the USF game.

Is Moore still the man?

"He's our starting quarterback," UC coach Luke Fickell said Tuesday at his weekly media luncheon at the Bearcats' Richard E. Lindner Athletics Center. "We didn't take him out other than he got hurt. His arm was a bit numb. For the first time, it was at least a situation where we could get an opportunity to get (Trail) in the football game."

Neither Moore nor Trail was available for comment during the designated UC player interview time Tuesday.

Trail has the stronger arm, but Moore has the most experience, having been the primary UC starter for most of the past two years. Trail was 5-for-9 passing for 31 yards in the USF game, his first action this season. Moore was 16-for-28 for 147 yards and a pick-six interception against USF.

Moore threw for a school-record 557 yards against Memphis in 2015, when he relieved an injured Gunner Kiel. Moore is moving up the UC passing chart with 5,151 career yards, but he has completed a rather ordinary 57 percent of his throws. Moore also has a career touchdown-interception ratio of just 30-24.

Trail made two starts in 2016. He completed 66 percent of his passes (46-for-70), but he also threw six interceptions and just one touchdown pass.

Moore and Trail competed for the 2017 starting job during spring and summer practices. Moore was always the frontrunner, but the matter was decided when Trail suffered an abdominal injury in summer ball. It took Trail several weeks to fully recover.

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How did Trail look against USF?

"What I looked at was just the command of the things that he did," Fickell said. "Were there points put on the board? No, but the command of the things that he did. Does he understand why and what he's doing? I thought he did a good job. Hopefully we can continue to see the growth of what he's doing, too."

SMU NEXT: The Bearcats are 8-point underdogs to SMU (4-2, 1-1 AAC West) for Saturday's 4 p.m. Homecoming game at Nippert Stadium.

SMU has not had a winning season since 2012, but the Mustangs are resurgent under third-year coach Chad Morris. After going 2-10 in Morris' first season in 2015, SMU went 5-7 last year.

SMU quarterback Ben Hicks ranks third in the AAC with 278.7 yards passing per game, and Trey Quinn leads the league with 9.0 receptions per game. SMU scores 43.6 points per game, which ranks No. 6 nationally.

The SMU defense is not as stellar, allowing 31.0 points per game to rank No. 94 nationally. The Mustangs do lead the AAC with 3.5 sacks per game.

"They have done a great job (offensively)," Fickell said. "Not that defensively they haven't. They're leading the league in sacks. But they've done a much better job than maybe what they were two years ago."

STILL SEARCHING: Virtually any Fickell interview nowadays includes questions about how his team is holding up, and what gives him hope.

"We're a little closer than people probably can see," Fickell said. "A lot of people out there see 33-3, and it's hard to see that it's anything closer. It's harder for our kids to see because they see the big picture."

Fickell then mentioned how a few plays, a few inches can turn things one way or the other. UC trailed just 9-3 late in the second quarter against USF, but an 11-yard TD run and the pick-six quickly made it 23-3 by halftime.

"There were plays in that game where we had an opportunity to change the momentum, make it a different ballgame," Fickell said. "We couldn't say that two weeks ago. We couldn't say that three weeks ago."

THEY CAN PLAY: The first-year UC coach also was asked Tuesday whether the AAC was better than he had thought.

"It is," Fickell said. "There's a lot of depth in this league, a lot of talent, a lot of good coaches. I've been very impressed."

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Cincinnati (2-5, 0-3 AAC East) vs. SMU (4-2, 1-1 AAC West)

Kickoff: 4 p.m. Saturday at Nippert Stadium (40,000)

TV/Radio: ESPNU/700 WLW-AM

Series: UC leads 2-0

Last meeting: UC won 41-3 on Oct. 18, 2014 (at SMU)

Latest line: SMU by 8

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