Q: How motivated has the team been in practice this week?

A: Today, I’d say we were really motivated offensively and defensively. We came out in full pads and got after each other. The motivation and intensity was there.

Q: This will be your third opponent that has been ranked this season in three weeks. How does that increase the pressure?

A: There’s pressure every week in the Big Ten. They’re 2-2, we’re 2-2. We’re both coming off a tough loss. This is their Homecoming. We’re going to be jacked up on both sides.

We need to prove to this University and to this state that we’re not pushovers. We’re embarrassed for the performance that we had. You don’t get a lot of second chances in this game, but this will be one.

Q: What are you excited for about going to Iowa?

A: That it’s another stadium in the Big Ten. I’ve been there before. They have some great linebackers in Abdul Hodge and Chad Greenway. I’m just excited to go out and compete against those guys.

Q: What was your favorite road game in the time you’ve been here?

A: When we used to play Mizzou in St. Louis. It’s where I’m from, so I got to play in front of my hometown crowd.

Q: Would you have liked to bring that game back this season?

A: It’ll happen next year and it’ll be a really good game. It’ll be a really big thing. Hopefully, I can be in attendance and watch the game. It’s a really big game for the border states.

Q: In high school you were a wide reciever. How difficult was it to switch positions?

A: I think playing fullback is one of the most physical positions in the game of football. You don’t get a lot of glory, you just go out there and bang your head out there. That was the biggest transition, coming from a finesse position. Wide reciever is a little bit of a finnesse position. To go to a hard-core, hard-nails position, that was the hardest transition.

Q: The fans might start seeing this season as a repeat of the last two – why is this year different?

A: We believe in each other. We want the fans to come in and be a part of this.

This is a new era, It’s going to get better. We guarantee that. If you stick with it, you’re going to be a part of something special. If you want to be a fair-weather fan that’s cool too, but this program’s going up.

Q: How did you get started playing football?

A: My brother played football. He’s two years older than me, and I just wanted to do whatever he did.

Q: If you could play any sport at any college, what sport would you play and where?

A: I would play football at Urbana High School. I don’t care for any other colleges. This is the only college I want to be at. I love Champaign-Urbana.

Q: Why football at Urbana?

A: I don’t like the powder-blue Centennial colors. I’d like to stick with the orange and blue.

Q: What are you planning to do after college?

A: I just want to work with kids, at like a boys club. I don’t want to be rich or nothing like that, I just want to work with kids.

Q: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

A: Chocolate. Choc-o-late.

Q: Did you have a Starter jacket as a kid and what team was on it?

A: I had a Starter jacket. I wanted a Raiders jacket, but I didn’t get that because my mother thought it was gang-related. I wanted a Bulls jacket, but she thought that was gang related. I ended up getting the turquoise and purple of the Charlotte Hornets. I rocked it to the best, those were neutral colors in my neighborhood, so I was good with it.