EARTH CITY, Mo. — As the St. Louis Rams prepare to play at San Diego on Sunday, it will be another opportunity to win a second consecutive game. Four times this season the Rams have won, but each time they lost the next game.

After defeating Tampa Bay in Week 2 to even their record at 1-1, the Rams not only lost the next game, but they were defeated in the next two to fall to 1-4.

That began a stretch of five weeks where they have alternated wins and losses, with the victories all against teams that were in the conference championship games last season.

There was a win over Seattle, then a loss to Kansas City; a win over San Francisco followed by a loss to Arizona, and then this past Sunday’s win over Denver.

Obviously, the Rams hope to keep the alternating string going, especially with Oakland on the schedule the week after Sunday’s game against the Chargers. Beat San Diego, and suddenly a 6-6 record entering December is realistic.

Coach Jeff Fisher has sent that message about putting wins together to his team.

“That’s the thing and the guys were talking about that … is that we had a big win; now can we go ahead and put another one together. Because it’s going win-loss, win-loss, win-loss and it needs to go win-win. That’s our focus.”

The signs are there, especially on defense, where in the last three games, the defense has been on the field for a total of only 34 points. The offense was able to run the ball against the Broncos, and quarterback Shaun Hill avoided any turnovers, although he escaped one when the ball bounced right back to him after a sack/fumble.

The Rams were penalized just three times for 25 yards against Denver, and one notable streak continued in that win: In their six losses, they had at least one return touchdown against. In the four wins, there have been none.

Most important, Fisher sees signs of growth and maturity, which he hopes carries over to a road game in San Diego against a team that has scored a total of 13 points in their last two games.

Discussing the stretch of good football, Fisher said, “With the exception of the second half in Kansas City, we’ve been in it. We just have to find ways to win games consistently, but this team has played hard and played physical against some really good teams.

Big-picture-wise, I think we’re building it right. We’re building to contend and compete in the division. I think young teams need to learn how to match up against those unfamiliar opponents, which we did (against Denver). Now we have to do that again.”

Noting how the Rams have played against some of the league’s best teams, defensive end Robert Quinn said, “If we play consistent week in and week out, finish ballgames … the story will write itself with that. Hopefully — you always say it after a big win — hopefully, we build on this momentum. Like I said, with a full team back there, we played a heck of a game. You’ve got to enjoy it for this little bit of time and get ready for the next opponent.”

Hill said it can take young players some time to totally buy into the importance of consistency on a week-to-week and quarter-by-quarter basis.

“We’ve faced some really tough opponents all year and been in a lot of those games right up until the end. Had the lead on a lot of teams going into the fourth quarter,” Hill said after the win over Denver. “So I think it’s something that’s certainly learned to play 60 minutes for 16 weeks in the NFL.

“A lot of guys when you come from college there’s a handful of games that you have to show up and play the whole game. Some of them you just roll your hat out there and you win. Not in the NFL. It takes 60 minutes for 16 weeks. That’s something that I think we’re learning. This is obviously a step in the right direction.”