He had a sense of urgency. He knew his weight and body fat were too high for him to play a lot of minutes. He was carrying way too much weight. To his credit, he was committed to getting in better shape.

I mean, things have to fall into place and you have to be very lucky, but I'll tell you, to a man, I don't think there was any doubt that we weren't going to score on the last drive.

We fly back right after the game, because being on the quarter system, we start school the next day. We get back at 4:30 in the morning (Tuesday).

He is as self-motivated as you will ever see. That's what makes him a great role model for the young guys. He leads by example and is a great teacher. He has taken a couple younger guys under his wing like Doug Worthington , Lawrence Wilson , Ryan Williams and Todd Denlinger .

The big thing with Marcus is his discipline. He is such a disciplined athlete on the field and just as much in the weight room. He is disciplined with his diet, too. He altered it and stayed committed to it. When you look at the evolution of it, it took a year and a half for him to get down to where he is now. He came into camp his freshman year at 348. Now, he always stays at a steady 290-295. To keep at that weight, that is hard to do for a big guy.

It has been a marked improvement with both aspects,