September 7, 2000
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Through the bye week we've been trying to get stronger and get our legs back and work on conditioning. It's been hard, though we've had an extra week to study Colorado's offense and defense. So we should be really prepared. Going off one game, you never know, they could come out with something new. It'll be something new for us to see and for the fans to see.
I didn't watch too many games this past Saturday-I mostly just sat around and rested. I enjoyed the weekend off. I watched some of Sportscenter, looking at the highlights. I woke up looking at the Penn State game. When I saw the score, I thought I was still asleep so I got up and took a good look. When I saw the score again, I was like "Oh, man." It really made our win not look so good. But, hey, we'll take the victory and go on from there.
One thing Coach Hackett tells us is that we are good but that we can be better than what we are. So Penn State was a great victory-it ended Coach Hackett's streak against Paterno-but it was also the foundation for what to really expect out of the Trojans this year. Colorado should be a great game.
I've been hearing a lot about this Marcus Houston guy. One thing we don't like to do is let someone come in our house and run the ball. So our number one thing is to shut him down. For a freshman to come in our house and try to run the ball, that's a big no-no. That's our number one goal as a defense is to shut down their run.
On offense, I'm hoping Carson busts out this week. He didn't really get a chance to show his stuff against Penn State because we ran the ball a lot and Sultan showed his stuff. I think Carson is really going to come out and show everyone what he's capable of doing.
On defense, I'm looking forward to seeing Bernard Riley. He's been doing excellent in practice. He's going to take care of business. He's a player. A lot of people will have to respect him. He's shown he has the heart to come out there and play hard like the rest of us. He's had an interesting week. He's doing Good Morning America on Friday. I think he got more media attention this week than he had all of last year. The four guys that helped the girl (Riley, Steve Stevenson, Kyle Matthews, Malcolm Wooldridge), we're behind them 100%. They not only play football, but they go out and help others, too. Myself, I think I would have reacted badly. To see her go through that pain and try to keep her calm-after seeing something like that, I don't think I could keep myself calm. They get the courage award of the week from me.
School has been going well. I changed a couple classes early, but it's going well. It's tough to have a full day of school, then a couple hours of practice. It really tires you out. My sleep time has been affected. I used to go to bed later, but now I get to bed as soon as I can because I know I have a long day ahead of me. It's mentally tiring, too. We have to learn new things on the field within a day or two. It can be frustrating. Physically, my body is worn out, as if we were in week six already. But that's why we condition as hard as we do, so we can maintain.
One a special note, my girlfriend, Marina, is due to deliver our daughter in mid-October. It's going to be a shocker. I'm hoping it's a day of practice instead of me being on the road. They say a baby really changes a person. I never thought I'd be a father because I've always had to look after just myself. Now, there's someone else to take my attention, but I don't mind. It's going to be fun to deal with a little baby. I've always liked kids, but now that my own is coming…..it's going to be a big shock. I have to get used to it. We're going to name her Jordan Taylor. If it was a boy, I was going to name it after myself, but once we found out it was a girl, Marina decided to name her. It's going to be fun to have a kid. The ideal day will be to come home after a win and play with her. Hopefully, I won't be too bruised up. I've also been preparing myself with the diaper changing and the feeding. My whole thing is to have that one-on-one attention, though. I'll be coming home, playing with the baby, putting her to sleep.
All I want my daughter to do when she gets older is go to school. I want to get to the point where I can keep my family set financially to where they won't have to do anything, especially my daughter. I want her to enjoy life like I'm enjoying it and just relax.
