What’s going on Purple Nation? Yours truly has been asked to help give a peek inside our football family while we prepare to take on the Auburn Tigers in the Outback Bowl. This a great opportunity for our program to take the next step and win a bowl game. And what a better time to do it than on January 1st in Tampa, Florida. While this is such an exciting time, we have heavy hearts, as Coach Marty Long cannot prepare with us. Our team would appreciate all your thoughts and prayers for Coach Long and his family as he continues to progress from his operation. In the mean time, our Defensive Quality Control Assistant, and former NU d-lineman, Matt Clark is joining forces with Coach Hank to get the d-line coached up and ready for the game.After a short layoff for finals, we just finished a lighter week of practice. Many of the reps were given to younger players as a way to develop and give some of the veterans time to rest their legs after a long and grueling Big Ten season. The highlights of the past week definitely had to be our D-Squad Bowls, which pit the underclassmen from offense against the underclassmen from defense in a live, scrimmaging situation. It’s a great time to help these younger players mature and progress before spring ball. Beginning today, and continuing until we break for Christmas on the 21st, we returned to our practice structure from the season. The beginning of practice is spent working on essential fundamentals, while the rest of practice is spent focusing on Auburn. Having extra time to prepare is crucial, especially when facing an offense like Auburn that we have yet to see this season.The bowl season also allows for some very fun events. This week alone, we will be taking in a Blackhawks’ game from the boxes, a Bulls’ game from the first ten rows, and a lineman’s dream…an all-you-can-eat lunch to promote the Outback Bowl. Other events include another Outback Team Dinner in Tampa, taking in a Tampa Bay Lightning game, team day at Busch Gardens, hospital visits and a beach day. I’ll keep everyone updated on how these events go and also some of the other things the d-line does to stay busy.I look forward to seeing everyone in Tampa. If you haven’t done so already, make sure to get your tickets today at NUSports.com. This is a great opportunity for our program, and we need the support of all our fans in order to turn Tampa purple in 2010. A quick shout out to our men’s and women’s basketball teams who are both off to great starts. Come and support these ‘Cats on Saturday for their doubleheader beginning at 1 pm.Go ‘Cats and we’ll catch up soon!–Adam Hahn