Todd Dodge is heading into the final week of his third season at North Texas.

The Mean Green’s head coach acknowledged Monday that he isn’t sure if Saturday’s game at Arkansas State will be the end of his tenure at UNT as well.

Dodge fell to 5-30 with the Mean Green last week after UNT lost a lead late and fell in its home finale 17-13 to Army. UNT is 2-9 on the season and won just three games in Dodge’s first two seasons with the Mean Green.

UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said before the season began that he would evaluate the program after the final game of the year. Villarreal did not respond to interview requests on Sunday or Monday.

“I really don’t know,” Dodge said of what his future at UNT might be. “I will sit down with coach Villarreal when the season is over with. At this point I don’t know. He will let me know.”

UNT appeared as if it might turn the corner when it beat a Ball State team coming off 12-2 campaign in its season opener, but has struggled since. The Mean Green went on a six-game losing streak before winning a 68-49 shootout with Western Kentucky at home on Oct. 31.

UNT failed to build on the momentum it picked up in that win.

The Mean Green did not score a touchdown the next week in a 33-6 loss to Louisiana-Monroe at Fouts Field and then blew fourth-quarter leads in back-to-back losses to Florida International and Army to fall to 2-9.

The Mean Green’s loss to the Black Knights came in front of a crowd of 23,647 at Fouts Field, the fifth-largest crowd for a UNT game at the venue, just hours after the school broke ground on a $78 million football stadium.

UNT is 2-19 in Sun Belt Conference play in the Dodge era. The Mean Green won at least a share of the league title from 2001-04 before finishing 5-18 overall in its last two seasons under former head coach Darrell Dickey.

Dodge was hired to restore the luster to the program.

“We have to see progress in the number of wins and the competitiveness of our teams, especially in SBC games,” Villarreal said before the season. “We should be nearing that point where every one of those games is winnable. We must eliminate those games where the margin of loss is substantial.

“That being said, there are a number of factors that affect the football season — injuries, etc. It’s something we will evaluate when we get to December.”

UNT has lost three games in Sun Belt play by seven points or fewer and lost a heartbreaking game to Ohio in double overtime in its second game of the season. The Mean Green’s only losses by more than two touchdowns in Sun Belt play came against ULM, Troy (50-26) and Middle Tennessee (37-21).

Troy (8-3, 7-0) has already captured at least a share of the Sun Belt title, while MTSU is also 8-3 with its lone loss in league play coming against the Trojans.

WKU (0-10, 0-6) is the only team in the Sun Belt with a worse conference record than UNT. The Hilltoppers have already fired David Elson and replaced him with former Stanford running backs coach Willie Taggart.

UNT men to take on Jackson State today

The UNT men’s basketball team will take on Jackson State today, when the Mean Green will look to bounce back from its first loss of the season.

UNT won its first two games of the year, including a marathon double-overtime victory over UT-Arlington, before falling at Oklahoma State on Saturday.

UNT led 28-27 late in the first half before OSU went on a 17-4 run to pull away.

The Mean Green knows from experience that getting back on track could be tough to do against the preseason SWAC favorite. UNT barely squeaked by the Tigers in an 84-82 win at the Super Pit last season.

“This is another opportunity to see how much we have improved since our last outing against a very good opponent,” UNT head coach Johnny Jones said. “It will be another great challenge for us. They have been to the NCAA Tournament in the last couple of years.”

Jackson State is 0-3, but has lost to Memphis and Alabama in addition to dropping a 62-61 thriller to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.

Senior guard Garrison John-son is averaging 21.0 points a game for Jackson State.

Josh White is averaging 19.3 points for UNT, despite scoring just four points against OSU.

The Cowboys double-teamed White every time he came across half court. Jones credited White for finding the open man and finishing with a team-high five assists on a day the Mean Green changed its lineup.

Junior guard Tristan Thomp-son hit his head on the floor in practice and was forced to miss some of UNT’s preparation time for the Cowboys. Thompson came off the bench to score five points and grab five rebounds against OSU.

Richard Thomas made his first start of the season in place of Thompson and also finished with five points.

“Richard and Shannon [Shorter] both played well,” Jones said of his two junior college transfers playing on the wing. “Tristan had an injury and wasn’t 100 percent. That is the good thing about this team; we are deep and have a lot of guys who can score.”

Thomas has been one of UNT’s more effective players off the bench this season and scored 12 points in the Mean Green’s season-opening win over Cam-eron (Okla.).

“I have to be ready when coach calls my number and take advantage of my opportunities,” Thomas said. “I played all right and played well defensively. I have to be more aggressive.”

UNT is hoping that approach will help the Mean Green bounce back after its loss to the Cowboys.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .