Jesse Marsch at the Chivas USA helm

It was Aug. 14 when Galaxy defender Sean Franklin's elbow smashed into Jesse Marsch's jaw, fracturing it and sidelining the Chivas USA midfielder for six weeks.

After 24 minutes off the bench last weekend in Salt Lake City, Marsch, 34, played his first full game Saturday night in Chivas' 2-1 win over Kansas City at the Home Depot Center.

His jaw, he said, is fine.

"It feels great, man," he said. "When I got hurt, I was really bummed out about the type of injury it was and how long it was going to take to get back. But everything being said, I think that the team handled my absence well -- and I'm not saying that I'm everything to this team but I am still a leader. A lot of guys stepped up their leadership and their on-the-field communication and we did well.

"So now when I came back I didn't want it to be a big deal. I just wanted to kind of fit in and help out in ways that I know that I can and get our team going, and I feel pretty good about that tonight."

Chivas USA has endured more than its share of injuries this season and yet is very much a contender. The reason, Marsch said, was the spirit in the locker room.

"As much as we were missing guys [due to injury] and it was a tough year, we knew that at some point guys were going to start coming back and we'd start to get our team together," he said.

"We wanted to make sure that we were in a good, positive mind frame and that we understood what it was going to be like and that the soccer would come around, that guys would still be sharp.

"[Saturday] in the first half particularly, it started to look like some really good soccer out there. I feel like we're getting a lot of guys back and we've got options off the bench."

With four games remaining in the regular season, the Chivas USA playoff prospects look good.

How many of the four does Chivas have to win to clinch?

"It's hard to say," Marsch said. "I'm not going to get caught up in that. What's more important is how we handle our momentum and the way we're playing and our mentality and how we go about things, so that once we get in the playoffs we can make a real run at the championship."

-- Grahame L. Jones

Photo: Since injuring his jaw in August, Jesse Marsch, right, played in his first full game Saturday night, a 2-1 victory for Chivas USA over Kansas City. Credit: Victor Decolongon/Getty Images