jhardy,
Well, to be pedantic, the center of pressure oscillates about the aft face of the body, thru an angle that is dependent on the Reynolds number. The drag force is higher than the lateral force, with a sinusoidal term superimposed that is roughly equivalent to the lateral forces. The OP asked "how to model" the force, and a simple answer is the one given - it will give a sinusoid input to a model that will cause it to vibrate at about the right frequency. A more complex model would add the lateral oscillation at a 90 degree phase shift relative to drag forces, and an even more complex model would attempt to actually predict what the magnitudes of those forces are, something that gets fuzzy quickly.