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USF DE CJ Hicks Joins 4th AND BULL · 4th AND BULL

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I know you guys got a short week.
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: You got a game. What's it been like on the
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: short week?
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, you play a game Saturday, then you got
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a turnaround Thursday night game. What is the difference between
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: practice on a normal week and practice this week?
• 0:14
  Speaker 3: You know, just for the team really just being mentally
• 0:17
  Speaker 3: locked in. You know, guys in the NFL have to
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: do the same thing. You know, they just play on Sundays.
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: So that's what the coaches have been harping on. That's
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: what us as leaders have been harping on as well,
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: you know, just– learning how to be pros and carrying
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: on that to the game on Thursday.
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Uh, speaking of coaches, did you see what, uh, Brian
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Hartline stirred up yesterday in his press conference?
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: Um, I seen something about it this morning, but, um,
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: me and the team, we know we're more.
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: Focused on the game.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I get that. I, I thought it was
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: interesting that they replied and they're doing the $ 9 tickets.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, definitely going to be, uh, a loud environment
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: on Saturday or on, I'm sorry, Thursday. I got to
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: get into the habit of calling it Thursday night. Um,
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: let's go back to Saturday though. You guys, you had
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to win that game. Defense played, uh, incredible.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: You guys were really good and really gave this team
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: an opportunity to win. What's it like in the, in
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the locker room knowing that, uh, you know, it wasn't
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: the result that you wanted, but knowing your unit played
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: really good.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: And what was the message from the coaches on Saturday night?
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Um, from the coaches and the leaders as well, you know, um,
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: Both sides of the ball, there's things that we need
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: to improve on.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: At the end of the day, they don't score, they
• 1:28
  Speaker 4: don't win.
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: Again, just being pros and going about the situation the
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: correct way, learning from our mistakes, and continuing to focus
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: on the week ahead.
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: It sounds like just listening to when Hartline talks, things
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: are going, our practices, they're going better, and then sometimes
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: it just doesn't translate to the game. Is that kind
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: of accurate where everything at practice is? is kind of
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: going right and then something in the game just kind
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: of changes?
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: Uh, I don't, I can't speak for the offensive side, but, um, yeah,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: like defense will, we'll be in the right spots, you know,
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: just at times, you know, we have to make the
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: plays when our numbers are called, you know, we can't hesitate.
• 2:08
  Speaker 4: We can't flinch, you know?
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, you guys have been, you guys have been incredible.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Take me, take me through the, the fumble recovery there
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: in the end zone. Um, that was a big play
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: for you. Just take me through that whole moment, uh,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: of you recovering that ball.
• 2:21
  Speaker 4: Um, Fortenberry and Xavier, you know, they made a great
• 2:24
  Speaker 4: hit on the quarterback. He was spinning.
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: I seen he was spinning. I tried to punch the
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: ball out while he was spinning. Realized it wasn't there.
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: I heard fumble turn around. The ball was right there.
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: You know, I was blessed with the opportunity to be
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: right there and.
• 2:37
  Speaker 4: Grab the ball.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: I thought Fortenberry had a really good game. He had
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: a couple big hits there. Nice pass break up at
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: the end. I thought he played well. Again, a lot
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: of credit to the defense. You guys have played really
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: good all year. What is it that you guys do differently?
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: Even when you guys struggle on defense and give up
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: yards between the 20s, you seem to always buckle down
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: in the red zone. What is it about you guys
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: when backs are against the wall, situations where you guys
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: need a stop, you guys always come through. What is
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: it about this defense to where backs are against the
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: wall and you guys seem to always find success?
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: One thing that Coach Alderson, the defense we all talk
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: about is even with the Opportunities that we get when
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: they start deep in their own end of the field,
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: just taking advantage of that. Like you say, we'll bend
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: but don't break. That's something that Coach Aldridge says all
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: the time. Give us an inch and we'll defend it. Obviously,
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: we still have to get better with that and not
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: letting the team get to the red zone.
• 3:41
  Speaker 4: Our whole job is to make sure that they don't
• 3:42
  Speaker 4: get in the end zone. That's what we're going to do.
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: When you start to prepare for UTSA, are you guys
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: changing up anything at practice, just knowing it's a louder environment?
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: Are you preparing for that, or is it just the
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: same type of practice as usual?
• 3:56
  Speaker 4: It's the same type of practice, you know.
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: Our goal is to treat every game like it's another game,
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: but also stay focused on that and know what comes
• 4:05
  Speaker 3: with that.
• 4:06
  Speaker 4: UTSA, they have a lot of great players, you know.
• 4:08
  Speaker 4: It's a great school as well. You know, just.
• 4:15
  Speaker 4: Making the most out of the plays that we get,
• 4:17
  Speaker 4: offense and defense.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: Do you prefer going up against an offense that moves
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: slower or tempo? Does it make a difference to you?
• 4:23
  Speaker 4: Not necessarily.
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: At the end of the day, when you're on that
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: field and that ball's down, you've got to play football
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: no matter if it's two minutes. Like you said, if
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: the team's known for going tempo or if they're trying
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: to slow it down, you have to buckle down and
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: do your job.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: You come over from Ohio State. How are you enjoying Tampa?
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Difference from Tampa and Columbus?
• 4:45
  Speaker 4: I love Tampa.
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: I have nothing but love for Columbus, but I love Tampa.
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: I love South Florida.
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: It's great.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: With UTSA coming up, what's kind of the mindset of
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: you guys to get over Saturday? Is it easy to
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: get over something like that and kind of move on?
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: I know you guys have, what is it, like a
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: 12-hour rule where whether you win or lose, you can
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: kind of be in that moment for 12 hours, and
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: then you've got to get on to the next week.
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: Yeah, so... After practice the next day, you know, you've
• 5:16
  Speaker 4: got to flush it. You've got to move on.
• 5:17
  Speaker 3: There's nothing you can do about the past. There's nothing
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: you can really do about the future. But all you
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: can do is worry about the present and continue to
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: grow and get 1% better each.
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: And every day.
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I'd imagine having a game on a Thursday is
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: probably nice, right? Like you have a redo. You get
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: to make up what happened Saturday. You don't have to
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: wait all the way until Saturday to do it.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: All over again.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: You get to do it on this Thursday night. The
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: offense in practice this week, how have they looked? Look,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: DJ Crowder, obviously just a beast of a running back,
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: and I know that you guys will probably lean on
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: him this weekend. Thursday, I keep calling it this weekend.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: But how's the passing game looking in practice? That's, I think,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: what all the fans are. Every fan wants everyone to
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: sling it around, and I've been trying to tell the
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: people that watch this show, they want to be a
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: running team, but they all have questions on the passing game.
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: Just how has the passing game looked? from a defensive
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: perspective at practice this week?
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: You know, we really haven't been around the offense that much.
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: You know, that's really how it is throughout the week.
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: You know, offense focus on offense, defense focus on defense. Usually,
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: you know, we'll go against each other, showing each other
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: the looks that we're going to use in the game.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: But this week, because of the game being on Thursday,
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: you know, we've just been separating and just building our
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: game plan and keeping the routine things routine.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: What about Saturday when you guys aren't playing? What is
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: CJ Hicks going to be doing?
• 6:44
  Speaker 4: Watching football.
• 6:45
  Speaker 2: I was going to say, are you going to be
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: watching football?
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: I remember when we were at Bulls Fest and we
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: talked to you, I asked Heartline that question too. I said,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: October 10th, you guys will be coming off of that
• 6:55
  Speaker 1: Thursday game. Are you going to watch college football? And
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: he said, no, I'm going to be watching film.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: And I felt like.
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: That's a Heartline answer.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: That's a very Heartline answer. You got any good Heartline stories?
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: I ask all the guys this question. I'm I'm trying
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: to get a Heartline story because when I asked him
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: at Bulls Fest for a good story on a couple players,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: he said we don't have time for any good stories.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: But now I know that you guys have been together
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: for a long time. There's got to be a good
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: Heartline moment or something he has said that has made
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: you laugh in the locker room.
• 7:27
  Speaker 4: Heartline in general is just a very funny guy.
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: When it's time to be serious, he's very serious. But
• 7:33
  Speaker 3: he's still young and he still goes about everything like
• 7:36
  Speaker 3: he's still playing the game. He tried to translate that
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: to the team. I really necessarily don't have a story
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: about him. He's a great head coach, great guy, great leader.
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: You've known him for a while. You come over from
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: Ohio State with him. There was something that you said
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: to me at Bulls Fest that made me realize that
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: he was going to be a head coach. You talked
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: about your relationship with him at Ohio State, but he
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: was the offensive coordinator.
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: You were the You were on defense.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: I always found that interesting when you told me that
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: because especially like you just said, at practice the offense
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: does their thing and the defense does their thing. What
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: was that relationship like at Ohio State, and is it
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: the same with you at USF too?
• 8:21
  Speaker 4: A hundred percent.
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: As far as just walking in the hallways, talking to guys,
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: just picking each other's brains and things like that, it
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: helps a player and obviously it helps a coach as well.
• 8:36
  Speaker 4: But it was the same thing at Ohio State.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: Coach Hartline, obviously, he puts his own spin on things,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: but he learned a lot there, and he's definitely translating
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: it to.
• 8:47
  Speaker 4: Things that we can use down here.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Awesome, man.
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: Well, good luck to you guys. Rooting for you Thursday
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: night against UTSA. Anything you want to say to Bulls
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: Nation before I let you go and get on out
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: of here?
• 8:58
  Speaker 4: We love you. We appreciate you.
• 9:01
  Speaker 3: We're going to give it our all on Thursday, and
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: we're going to give 110% to We're going to do
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: our job and walk away with that W.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you, CJ.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Thank you for your time today, and we'll talk again soon.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Good luck Thursday night, all right?
• 9:14
  Speaker 4: Thank you. I appreciate you.
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: Fourth and Bowl is presented by Blue Terra, a Florida-based
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: bull-run environmental restoration and resiliency company. Winner of two USF
• 9:23
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  Speaker 1: infrastructure from storm surge and flooding. For more information about
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: Blue Terra, visit their website at bluetera.us. All right, thank
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: you guys so much for watching the podcast today. iHeartRadio, Spotify,
• 9:49
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• 9:51
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• 9:54
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• 9:58
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• 10:01
  Speaker 1: forget to share this with Bulls Nation. Let them know
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: this podcast exists. Let them know I am covering USF.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: We got to start to grow this following. We kind
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: of stopped right around like 775. I think we're at subscribers,
• 10:13
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• 10:17
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• 10:18
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• 10:21
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• 10:24
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• 10:25
  Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys watching this.
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: Enjoy the game Thursday night, and I'll try to get–
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: I don't even want to promise when the next podcast
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: will get out, but I'll try to get one out
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: pretty quick after the game. I always promise you guys that,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: and I never deliver. But I will– in a perfect world,
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: I'd love to get one out on Friday. We'll see
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: if that happens. But enjoy the game Thursday, and we
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: will talk again soon.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Go Bulls.