As a former member of the Cincinnati football coaching staff, Bob Diaco is certainly familiar with the Bearcat program.

Diaco has fond memories of his one season (2009), when he served as defensive coordinator/linebackers coach. The Bearcats went 12-1 record, captured the Big East championship and played in the Sugar Bowl.

Now he's bringing his UConn Huskies to his former home to play an American Athletic Conference on Saturday at Nippert Stadium (4:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network).

"It was an awesome year and a lot of fun," Diaco said. "It was a great staff and great team. I remember the players well. I enjoyed them. I loved living in the city. I'm a foodie and it's a foodie town. So that was enjoyable. ... I had a very quality experience, my family and I, there."

For the record, Diaco prefers Skyline Chili over Montgomery Inn ribs.

After losing four of its last five games, UConn (3-4, 1-2) has a strong appetite for a victory. A loss would make it challenging for the Huskies to post their first winning season since 2010. Cincinnati (3-3, 0-2) has controlled the series, owning a 9-2 edge overall, including winning all six meetings at home.

"Right now, we have our back against the wall, and we either have to put up or shut up," placekicker Bobby Puyol said.

The Bearcats are eager to recover from a disappointing start. A heavy preseason favorite to win the AAC title, they've yet to win two in a row this season. A tough schedule is partially to blame; Their losses are against three teams with a combined 15-2 record.

"We've got a good football team that's getting better," Cincinnati coach Tommy Tuberville said. "We're awfully beat up in some positions, but everybody is. There's no excuses."

They've lost three defensive starters. Quarterback Gunner Kiel hasn't played since suffering a neck injury against Memphis on Sept. 24, but is now healthy. They're still a potent offensive team with redshirt freshman Hayden Moore in charge, ranking third in the conference in scoring offense (36.5 points) and total offense (546.2 yards) per game. They're first in passing offense (358.2 yards).

"They're awesome on offense," Diaco said. "They have the best group of wide receivers that we've played up to this point and maybe arguably all season. They have impact players. ... You have matchup issues in every single spot. They have a big offensive line. .... They have an excellent group of backs, and the quarterback can do what they like to do: just throw the ball down field."

Diaco feels his team took some backward steps last week.

UConn's normally reliable defense, which is ranked 29th in the country in scoring (18.7 points), gave up costly big plays in last week's 28-20 loss to South Florida. The four touchdowns allowed covered 44, 29, 15 and 44 yards. Busted coverages, alignment errors and communication errors contributed to their demise.

"That's not part of our DNA," Diaco said.

It also was a frustrating day for the offense, which piled up plenty of yards (528), but not enough points. Thirteen of 14 drives ended in opponent's territory.

The Huskies continue to suffer too many preventable self-inflicted wounds. Those mistakes are often the difference between winning and losing.

"We will learn from those mistakes," Diaco said. "That's all we can do, because the mistakes didn't happen on purpose. Everybody is trying hard. ... We just feel like there's these moments in these games, two games in particular, where we beat ourselves.

"... We have our program to a point where they're all going to be dogfights. It's all going to be a fourth quarter fight, which is great, but because it's so tight, every small little moment is exacerbated and really becomes a defining moment in the game."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe