They get back out their suitcases and pack for Pittsburgh, where a huge challenge awaits. The Steelers lost last week at home and they'll be in no mood to throw a pity party for the Chargers.

Before the year, many in the organization looked at this game as possibly one of the team's few losses.

But after going 3-5 the first half -- improving to 4-5 with a close win over the 1-8 Chiefs last Sunday -- the Chargers now need this game.

In a big way.

If the Chargers were to fall after the Broncos defeat the Falcons earlier in the day, the Chargers could be two games off the AFC West pace with just six to play.

Sorry, but that's fate when stumbling so badly over press clippings and dreams of reaching the Super Bowl.

What it leaves you with is having to beat the 6-3 Steelers in one of the toughest places to play.

"It's a wild place to play," coach Norv Turner said. "They are great fans; the field is a little different ... weather.

"There's a lot of things you have to handle going on the road."

The Chargers know all about that in returning from a two-game, 11,000-mile jaunt last month.

But it isn't the journey that worries Turner. It's what is waiting at the destination.

"A lot of time people make more out of that," he said. "Who you are playing is the No. 1 thing -- what we have to handle is the Steelers.

"They are an outstanding football team."

That was once said about the Chargers. And the sands of time are close to running out on the 2008 season -- especially if the Chargers win.

Not only would it get them to .500 but also it would deliver a jolt of confidence that comes with knocking off the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

The Chargers can do it. Will the Chargers do it? Before the season, this was supposed to be a game they could afford to lose.

But now, that's no longer the case.

SERIES HISTORY: 26th regular-season meeting. The Steelers lead the series, 19-6, but the Chargers have beaten the Steelers when it mattered most. Twice when playing each other in the postseason the Chargers prevailed. The most critical win came in the 1994 AFC Championship Game, when the Chargers were nine-point underdogs and won to advance to their lone Super Bowl.