NORMAN — If we've learned anything over the last few days, it's that things move fast in college football.

Things have began trending for Oklahoma in a dire direction in the span of four weeks. The Sooners are 3-1, having lost their SEC opener to Tennessee, and have posted some of the worst offensive numbers in the country. Former five-star Jackson Arnold quarterback was benched against the Vols, and it'll now be true freshman Michael Hawkins' chance to lead the offense this weekend against Auburn.

Oh, and this weekend's game presents the best opportunity for the Sooners to get back on track. They're a 4-point favorite to win at Auburn, and it's essentially a must-win game heading into the bye week. The Sooners' schedule only gets tougher from here — No. 1 Texas follows after the bye week.

Brent Venables' 54-minute press conference on Tuesday showcased the urgency for the program moving forward. And while the Sooners may be favored, that doesn't mean winning at Auburn will be easy.

Here's few things to watch in a must-win game for the Sooners:

When: 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday

Where: Jourdan-Haire Stadium, Auburn, Alabama

TV: ABC

Radio: 107.7 FM

Does the offense get "back to basics?"

In Venables' 19-minute opening statement on Tuesday, he made the objective for this weekend pretty clear.

The Sooners' offense has to be simpler. But just how simpler?

Venables gave a pretty explicit indictment of the Sooners' decision making on offense, which was the biggest reason why Arnold is on the bench and Hawkins is getting the start. But it wasn't just the three first-half turnovers — the Sooners simply haven't been executing the run-pass option plays (RPO), as Arnold routinely made bad pre-snap reads. Venables also criticized some of the play calls and play designs, particularly on the play that resulted in Jovantae Barnes being tackled for a safety.

For Venables, it sounds like the offense needs to be more straightforward.

"Sometimes, it’s complicated, but we could uncomplicate it and tell him to hand the damn ball off," Venables said. "You don’t have to have an RPO to have a good play."

That's going to be even more of a focus with Hawkins getting the start this weekend.

The offense functioned better last weekend with Hawkins in the game, but it's clear the Sooners have structural issues from top to bottom. From the schemes to the blocking to the injuries, nobody has been on the same page. Now, the Sooners have to focus on putting Hawkins in a position to succeed, and it sounds like part of that plan will be keeping the reads as simple as possible.

"Sometimes your young player, he might say, 'Well, next game, I’m gonna no matter what.' It’s like, that’s not the time to do that, actually," Venables said. "Then you start forcing things, rather than letting it come naturally. I just believe in some ways, less is more. Don’t give too much autonomy.

"It's only going to get more and more challenging. So you've got to get better at the basics. I hate saying that nonstop, and the basics will promote you and help you win a game when you do the little things right over and over and over, like stay off the ground and tackle the guy with the ball. And you've got to play physical.... But, we can't have the issues that are keeping us from having any kind of continuity, just a little bit of everybody. And so we've got to get into a rhythm, not a better time to do that than this week."

2. Auburn's QB carosel

The Tigers are far from a guaranteed win, particularly with the Sooners' injury situation. But as disastrous as OU's offense has been, things have been even more chaotic with Auburn.

It starts with the Tigers' quarterback situation. Payton Thorne began the season as the starter, but turnover issues got him benched in favor of Hank Brown. But Brown threw three first-half interceptions against Arkansas, and Hugh Freeze went back to Thorne in the second half.

The Tigers still haven't named a starting QB for this weekend. They've combined for eight interceptions, which is a big reason why the offense has committed 14 turnovers this season — the most in the FBS.

The Sooners are likely preparing for both, but Auburn's turnover issues should also give an advantage to an OU defense that's tied for the most takeaways in the country (12). However, that's not to say Auburn's offense has been ineffective. Auburn ranks 27th in total offense (462 yards per game) and they actually outgained Arkansas 431-334 last weekend. But, as has been the case all season, they committed four turnovers which was the primary reason for their 24-14 loss.

Whoever gets the start at QB, the Sooners need to generate pressure and look to force some turnovers.

3. The Sooners' wide receiver rotation

Heading into the season, OU's wide receiver room was (reasonably) evaluated as one of the deepest position groups into the season.

Four weeks into the year, it's a catastrophe.

Essentially, the Sooners' top five players at the position are missing this weekend. Four of them (Jayden Gibson, Nic Anderson, Jalil Farooq, Andrel Anthony) were already expected out. Now, Deion Burks has already been ruled out.

The receiver corps was already incredibly banged up, but it's now a full panic alarm with Burks out. Burks leads the team in receptions (26), yards (201) and touchdowns (3). He's accounted for 62% of the receptions made by OU receivers.

This isn't an ideal scenario for Hawkins.

With wide receiver rotation is going to be crucial. Emmett Jones has had to piecemeal things together all season. True freshman Zion Ragins has played 148 snaps and played 50 against the Vols. Brennen Thompson is second among receivers in snaps with (175). Jaquaize Pettaway saw 24 snaps last weekend after playing just 21 through the first three weeks, and he caught three passes for 79 yards as he showed chemistry with Hawkins. Ivan Carreon and Zion Kearney have each played sparingly. Could Jacobe Johnson play just one week after transitioning from defensive back to receiver?

There's not a ton of great options for the Sooners, but Jones is going to have to press the right buttons.