If it's still September, it's probably too early in the season to say that any team is facing a "must-win game" this weekend, so what if we just call them "better-not-lose games" instead? Does that work?

Whatever you want to call them, there are a few teams heading into this weekend staring a long, ugly season in the face, and if they want to have any chance of avoiding it, they could use a W. We're ranking those teams in this week's Friday Five. Now, technically, I'm ranking them in order of who needs the win the most, but the truth is they all need a win, so the order they're in isn't as important as the fact they're on the list to begin with.

Also, when it comes to considering which teams to include, I took into consideration the teams they're playing. If you look at Nebraska, Arkansas and Georgia Tech, those are three teams sorely in need of a victory this weekend. The problem is they're playing Michigan, Auburn and Clemson respectively. The smallest point spread in any of their games is 15 points, which is how big of a dog Georgia Tech is at home. Hell, Arkansas is a 30-point underdog against Auburn.

So while the win would be nice, it doesn't seem fair to consider them with the mountains they must climb on Saturday.

Which five teams did make the cut? Let's find out.

5. Iowa State 

The Cyclones aren't in dire straits just yet, but they can't afford a 0-3 start to the season, particularly with this week's opponent being Akron. Now, ordinarily, I would think that Iowa State has this one in the bag -- and I kind of do -- but we must remember that Akron beat Northwestern 39-34 last week after trailing 21-3 at halftime. Sure, it was a little fluky seeing as how the Zips had three defensive touchdowns in the second half, but it happened, and it counts.

The reason why this is a needed win for Iowa State, though, isn't just because it's 0-2 and Akron is a team it should beat. It's what the schedule holds for the Clones. Big 12 play begins next week, and it does not start with a whimper. Iowa State opens conference play in earnest on the road against No. 17 TCU. The week after that it's on the road against No. 15 Oklahoma State, and then Iowa State returns home to face No. 12 West Virginia. In other words, there's a chance Iowa State is staring 1-5 in the face even if it beats Akron this week, so a loss might derail the entire season before October.

4. Purdue

I expected Purdue to take a step back this season. Jeff Brohm stepped into a situation last season where he had a veteran defense, and with his offensive acumen, the Boilermakers were in a position where they could take a step forward. They did, but this year, most of the key players from the 2017 defense are gone. Now, just because I expected Purdue to take a step back didn't mean I had them sitting at 0-3 right now. The loss to Eastern Michigan was not in the forecast.

And even if Purdue's three losses have come by a combined eight points, the schedule is daunting. It continues this week at home against a No. 23 Boston College team that's looked excellent to begin the season. Then Big Ten play begins in earnest for the Boilers with three of four on the road against Nebraska, Illinois and Michigan State, with a home game against Ohio State in between. Following the Michigan State game, they get Iowa. Now, Nebraska and Illinois are certainly winnable games for Purdue, but the fact both are on the road will make them more difficult. All of which means that if Purdue wants to have a realistic shot of getting back to a bowl game in 2018, it needs to pull off the upset against Boston College on Saturday.

3. Arizona

Arizona finally got on the board with a win last week, but it was against Southern Utah, so I'm not taking it seriously and neither should you. In my mind, this is still the team that lost to BYU at home and then got crushed by Houston on the road. A team still trying to pound a square peg into a round hole with Khalil Tate, though Tate did have a fantastic game throwing the ball against Southern Utah, but again, it's Southern Utah.

This week's game is against an Oregon State team who made honorable mention on this list and has an awful defense. The Beavers are allowing 6.5 yards per play (116th nationally) and 0.74 points per play (125th nationally). If the Arizona offense can't work things out against the Beavers on Saturday, it might not be able to work things out at any point for the rest of the season. In other words, in my mind, Arizona doesn't just need to win this game, but its offense has to look good while doing so. If it's some a 20-17 squeaker, I won't give the win back, but I wouldn't take it as a good omen for the rest of the year.

2. USC

OK, so maybe it's too early to call any game a "must-win," but you know what? This is a must-win for USC. There, I said it, and I mean it. The Trojans are 1-2 on the season, and that includes a 0-1 mark in Pac-12 play already. USC lost on a Friday night in Pullman last season, derailing its College Football Playoff hopes. A loss to the Cougars on Friday night in Los Angeles could derail USC's hopes of even winning its division, let alone the Pac-12.

Now, the good news is that neither of those losses would have come against division opponents, and the rest of the division doesn't look great itself, but it's still a big hole to dig yourself out of this early. Also, considering how some USC fans already feel about Clay Helton (SI's Andy Staples did a good job explaining how the situation is similar to what Florida went through with Jim McElwain last year), a loss to Wazzu would only make the hot seat talk grow louder, and I'm not sure USC wants to go through the process of hiring a new football coach for the fourth time this decade.

1. Florida State

Who else could it be? I wrote earlier this week about Florida State and how its problems stem from its offensive line, and how the Noles found themselves in this position to begin with. So the question now becomes can they do anything to fix it this season?

I'm not sure, but even if Florida State has significant problems, I don't think there's a scenario that exists in which losing to Northern Illinois at home should ever be in consideration. Particularly when it isn't the NIU that Florida State crushed in the Orange Bowl a few years ago and is instead an NIU team that is 1-2 and has scored 37 points in three games.

I don't think the whispers of Willie Taggart already being on the hot seat are fair or realistic, but if Florida State loses at home to Northern Illinois? They still wouldn't be fair, but they'd be a lot more realistic!

What's scary for Florida State right now is that Northern Illinois is the last game on the schedule where you feel like the Noles should win. Next week is a road game against Louisville -- which has plenty of problems on its own -- but with the way this team has played so far, we can't assume anything.

Then it's Miami, Wake, Clemson, NC State, Notre Dame, Boston College and Florida.

In other words, if Florida State wants to entertain the idea of keeping its bowl streak alive, it must win on Saturday. And a convincing win would be nice, too.

Honorable Mention: North Carolina, Oregon State, Rutgers