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Mars is nearing its frutherst point from Earth and as of Mid-late Sept it appears only 4" in diameter, just barely bigger than Uranus. It is also hopelessly low in the W after sunset so atmospheric turbulance with distort it.
I assume the "standard eyepiece" is the normal 25mm job, which in a 8" SCT gives about 80x, which is on the low side for planetary obs. With Mars at 4" diameter, it could well look like a star at that mag. And with it so low in the gunk near the horizon, you are not likely to see details. It's not your equipment or anything, Mars is well past its prime and unsuitable for observation at this time.
Mars never gets to Jupiter's angular diameter either, the best perihelic oppositions (such as 2003) bring it to 24-25", which is still half the size of Jupiter at opposition.
Cheers
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