FAYETTEVILLE — Never before in the 115-year history of Arkansas football have the Razorbacks endured losses in three consecutive games as lopsided as the past three to Alabama, Texas and Florida.

The combined victory margin for the now No. 2-ranked Crimson Tide, No. 5 Longhorns and No. 11 Gators over the Razorbacks was 108 points.

That exceeds the combined margin of 104 points by which LSU, Henry Kendall (now known as the University of Tulsa ) and Texas beat Arkansas in 1919.

Despite the losing margin of the past three games — 49-14 to Alabama, 52-10 at Texas and 38-7 to Florida — the Razorbacks said after Saturday’s loss they’re hanging tough and won’t give up on the season.

“This is what we do, whether it’s going good or bad,” Arkansas junior defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard said. “You don’t give up on life just because you have a bad day.

“ Football is our life right now. We’re excited about playing Auburn, and I personally feel we can win that game.

“ But we’ll have to play even harder and get better.” Arkansas (2-3, 0-2 SEC ) plays at No. 20 Auburn (4-2, 2-2 ) on Saturday in what will be a fourth consecutive game against a nationally ranked opponent — the first time that’s happened in Razorbacks history.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” Arkansas freshman receiver Joe Adams said. “But we’ve already gone through most everything you can go through. We’ve just got to keep preparing hard.” The Razorbacks’ coaches and players said after the Florida game the team’s performance showed progress, and it’s hard to dispute that assessment despite the final 31-point margin.

Florida led the Razorbacks 17-7 going into the fourth quarter while Alabama led 42-7 a minute into the third quarter and Texas led 38-3 three minutes into the third quarter.

“This was a competitive game,” Sheppard said of playing the Gators. “It wasn’t like we were blown out before the third quarter.

“ As a team, I feel like everybody came out and played better.” Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino praised the assistant coaches and players for their preparation leading up to the Florida game.

“We’re a better football team right now than we were a week ago at Texas,” Petrino said. “We’ve just got to keep working hard, keep going to practice with a good attitude, keep getting the leadership we got this week at practice and the leadership we got within the team, come back and get after it.” Arkansas senior quarterback Casey Dick said the team can’t afford to start thinking negatively.

“We’ve got to keep holding our heads high, not get down, and keep fighting through it,” Dick said.

Defensive coordinator Willy Robinson said the entire team is following Petrino’s lead.

“The same message keeps coming from our head coach, and that’s to make sure we stay together as a team,” Robinson said. “We know what we have to face and what our issues are, but the thing is not to give up.”