Defensive End Jay Moore

Nebraska Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006
Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, Neb.
Pre-Texas A&M

Defensive End Jay Moore
On facing Texas A&M running back Jorvorskie Lane
“We’re just going to have to get a lot of hats to the ball to get him down.  He has his own traits there, so he’ll be a tough one.”

On his performance in the Missouri game
“I felt good in the game.  I made some plays.  I’m probably the hardest person to please.  I’m always hard on myself.  I always see things that I wish I could have done differently.  I feel like I’ve played pretty consistently most of the year.  I played pretty well, but I could have played better.”

On developing stability on defense
“When you look at the game film (from the Missouri game) on Sunday, you see we played pretty well, but we still could play a lot better. That’s been our trait all year. At times, we play really well, but we still could play better.  We definitely haven’t played our best game yet, and we’re always striving to do that in every week.  We’re waiting to play our best game, for sure.”

On playing against Texas A&M
“From what I’ve seen, they do what they do very well. They’re not going to really try to nickel-and-dime you or trick you.  They’re just going to play good football and come right at you. We’re going to have our hands full and we’re going to have to play very well because those guys play well down there. It’s going to be very hostile and a tough environment. We’re going to have to be on top of our game.”

On being one win away from clinching the Big 12 North championship
“Every one here talks about us needing to win one more game, and that’s far from my mentality.  I look at it as having four games left this year. I want to go 4-0 in these last four games.  I don’t want to worry about winning just one game.  I want to win every one of them.  I don’t want to have another loss for my career and for this team.  Last year, we had four losses.  This year, we have three.  I don’t want to be even to where we were last year.  I want to be better than we were last year.  I want to get my attitude out to the rest of the team because I don’t know if some of these guys are thinking about winning just one more.  We haven’t been to been to the Big 12 Championship Game in a while, and I think some guys realize that if we win one game, we’re there.  That’s not my mentality.  I want to win the Big 12.  I want to be undefeated these last four games.  I want to go to a BCS bowl game and win that, too. It’s just that I want to end this season in the right way.”

On his perspective as a native Nebraskan
“I was such a big fan and I know the history of the program really well.  This being my senior year, my last go-round, I just want to leave this program knowing that I did everything I could to get this program back to where it used to be.  I went to games back in the day.  Last Friday, we were eating dinner, watching the ’97 Missouri game.  I was at that game.  Just seeing that, the older players and seeing how they went about their business, I just think ?why can’t that be us?’.  We have that talent there.  I just want to end this thing on the right foot.”

On the team’s mentality in practice
“It’s just showing, leading by example.  It’s tough.  This is our 11th-straight game.  We haven’t had a bye week.  It’s tough to go out and practice hard.  It’s something that has to be done.  If you don’t put forth the effort on the practice field, you don’t deserve to play well in the game.  You have to be able to sacrifice every day in practice by going hard and putting all your effort into playing well.  I think, if guys understand that and put that sacrifice toward practicing, the games will become much easier and you’ll get those small things when you do everything to your best effort.”

On the mindset for this week in practice
“OklahomaState week, we weren’t very focused.  Guys were just really disappointed by what we put on film the week before.  Everyone wanted to make sure that we didn’t do that again.  They really stepped up their efforts and preparation for the game.  I think that guys were just disgusted with themselves.  They just didn’t want to play that bad again, so it was just a matter of having respect for yourself and your teammates and making sure you played well again.”

On maintaining a strong focus for practice
“I will.  I hope everyone else is.  I’m going to do my best to make sure everyone else is.  I’m going to make sure that they’re on top of their game because these last games are crucial to where I want to be in December and January.  You have to take a really good look at what you do this week and make sure you do it to the best of your ability.”

On winning on the road against a good South opponent
“The way A&M is, they call it one of the loudest places in the country and how hostile it is and how many people there are and how big the stadium is.  It would be big to win there and have this thing clinched, but any time you win on the road is big.  Any time you win, period, in the Big 12 is huge.  It all depends to what goes on at practice to see where we are when it comes down on Saturday.”

On not winning a championship during his Nebraska career
“It’s been disappointing, not being able to play in a championship game.  Last year, beating Michigan in the Alamo Bowl, that’s the closest we’ve been to a championship.  The opportunity that’s in front of us gets me really excited and even more hungry knowing that we can get a championship here and get this thing back to where it needs to be.”