This is what the Chargers dreamed about -- playing the Indianapolis Colts with so much at stake.

But in November?

Afraid so as the 4-6 Chargers tangle with the surging Colts Sunday night with San Diego's season hanging in the balance.

Trying to spit out a stretch that has seen three losses in four games, the Chargers are playing without any wiggle room.

They trail the AFC West-leading Broncos by two games with six to play. And by the time the Chargers kick off Sunday, it could be a 2 1/2-game deficit if Denver beats Oakland earlier in the day.

Grab a shovel, Chargers, and let the digging begin.

The question is, are the Chargers digging their 2008 grave? Or out of a hole which has sunk to unthinkable depths.

It's getting late early for the Chargers, and they realize another stumble Sunday could wreck the season.

The Colts are first off in a three-game home stand that will define this dreary season for the underachieving Chargers.

"This will tell the story," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "What will December mean? What meaning will it have? Two games back but the team we're two games back from, we get to play them once. You just hope you can gain enough ground where that game will mean everything."

The Chargers cap the season entertaining the Broncos. But it's what happens between here and there, which will reveal the Chargers.

Or, better put, show the Chargers to be something they haven't been all year: a winning team.

They'll see one Sunday night in the Colts, who have resurrected their campaign with a three-game winning streak. Just the Chargers luck in their luckless season, they get Peyton Manning and his men playing with confidence.

As well as revenge.

Last January, the Chargers eliminated the Colts in the AFC playoffs. That the Chargers did it with Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson out hurt during the fourth quarter, added to the sting.

And in the regular season, the Chargers thumped the Colts on Monday Night Football when Manning threw six -- six! -- interceptions.

Manning will be looking to rectify that and keep his team rolling toward the playoffs.

But the Chargers can't worry about Manning, Indy or the price of gasoline. Their focus has to be grabbing hold of a wobbly steering wheel and right a ride that has been nothing but bumpy.

The team that has come oh-so-close in its losses can no longer find solace in being close. If it does, its season is close to being over.

"I don't know how many have come down to the wire where we have not been on the top end of some of these games," Rivers said. "There's no consolation in that.

"We haven't made the plays. That's what every team that's sitting at 4-6 or is struggling is saying. 'Golly, we're a couple plays away.' There are teams right now that are 4-6 that go to 7-9 or 6-10 and there's teams that battle back and give themselves a chance for the division. Hopefully we're going to be the latter of those, too."

If so, the Chargers will have to show more grit than they have to date. Maybe the urgency of the situation -- that goes for players and coaches -- will fuel the Chargers' sprint toward the playoffs.

"We know how close we are and our guys know how close we are," coach Norv Turner said. "We just need to get over the hump."

They better hurry.

SERIES HISTORY
23rd regular-season meeting. The Chargers lead the series, 14-8. Last year the Chargers took a regular-season and playoff game from the Colts. In a Sunday night game in 2007, the Chargers built a 23-0 lead and held on for a 23-21 victory. In the playoff game, backup QB Billy Volek's 1-yard run ousted the Colts from the postseason in the last game at the RCA Dome.

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