Following the bye week and a brand new contract, Indiana football's Curt Cignetti will lead undefeated and fifth-ranked Hoosiers to Ohio Stadium in what many consider the most important game in Indiana University's 137-year history.
For Cignetti, however, it is just another in a long list of big games that he has been a part of. Throughout his illustrious coaching career, he has led his team into tough environments. Some were tougher than others, and results varied, but the valuable experience gained in those games led Cignetti to this week.
"Well, I've been to a lot of those," Cignetti said Monday. "I started this off at a young age. I was 23 full-time, in the Southwest Conference playing Texas, Texas A&M, out of conference, LSU, been in those games."
Coming over from James Madison, Indiana has a lot of players and coaches who have become accustomed to a winning mentality, which Cignetti believes to be an advantage.
"We've got a group of guys and coaches that have won 24 out of their last 25 games," Cignetti said. "So we don't have a confidence problem."
With ESPN's College Gameday and FOX Big Noon Kickoff shows in town Saturday, there will once again be a cluster of attention on the Hoosiers, but as per usual, Cignetti is focused on the preparation and process as if it were just another game.
"We treat them all alike. If there was a better way to prepare for a certain team, we'd do that for every team," Cignetti said. "We have to stack moments, meetings, practices and days to give ourselves the best chance to be successful on Saturday. I'm confident in our team that we'll prep well this week, play well, go in there, play with poise and play our game."
As of Monday, the oddsmakers have Indiana as an 11.5-point underdog, which puts the Hoosiers in that underdog position for the first this season.
During his press conference, Indiana's headman reflected on a game in the past when his team was underdogs on the road.
"I look at maybe one time at Elon we had a really good football team, we were 4-1, had lost to an FBS team, went to JMU, they had won about 25 in a row at home," Cignetti reflected. Somehow we're 38-point underdogs - I have no idea how - and we walked out of there with a win."
Cignetti has had a chip on his shoulder his entire career and has repeatedly proven the naysayers wrong, so the moxie he brings has rubbed off on his players.
"I think we have a confident team that believes and takes care of business. They prep well. They're detailed. They played fairly consistently to a standard, not circumstances of the game, and that's what we preach," Cignetti said of his team. "I've heard that comment that they have, and I guess that's a good thing."
The confidence and drive of Indiana will be put to the test Saturday, but Cignetti knows that it's just another game and it will be a 60-minute battle that his team will have to traverse for victory.
"One play at a time, got to execute. Whoever plays the best wins."
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