AUSTIN, Texas – Colt McCoy lifted his upper lip to show what had caused him to spit blood in Texas’ loss to Texas Tech. On a hit in the third quarter, the little piece of skin that connects it to the gum had been ripped.

When the Longhorns quarterback went to the sideline, a team trainer slipped a pair of tweezers in his mouth, grabbed the dangling skin and pulled it out with quick tug.

“I don’t think it really does anything anyway,” McCoy said Monday.

McCoy’s bloody mouth was an example of just how painful the Longhorns’ 39-33 loss to the Red Raiders was Saturday night.

The defeat not only knocked Texas from No. 1 to No. 5, it also left the Longhorns a game behind Texas Tech in the Big 12 South division. Texas (8-1, 4-1) must not only win its last three games against Baylor, Kansas and Texas A&M;, it also needs the Red Raiders to lose one or two games just to have a chance to get to the Big 12 championship game.

Texas is fortunate that it only fell three spots to No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings, meaning it could still be a factor in the national title chase if things fall the right way.

Coach Mack Brown, who sizes up the league and national title picture for his team on Sundays, said he knows his team is hurting after the loss. The Longhorns had been sitting at No. 1 for nearly a month in a season they weren’t even expected to play for the Big 12 title.

“We’d better not worry about the national stuff,” Brown said. “We have to quit pouting … So much talk has been about the end (of the season), I told them ‘You all have been the college football darlings the last three weeks, now let’s get back to work.'”

Brown said he expects one of his toughest weeks of coaching.