THE MODERATOR: Senior running back Cam Skattebo is joining us now.
Q. Cam, when you come look at this year, are you surprised at how resilient this team has been given that last year it was 3-9? Guys kind of sometimes have to learn how to win.
CAM SKATTEBO: I hate to be the person to say it, but I've won a lot of football games in my life. I kind of know what it takes to win. I've tried my best to feed that into other guys on the team.
There's a lot of guys on this football team that have won state titles, that have went to the playoffs, that have won state conference championships in college. Having those people to be able to lead this football team has been huge because everybody's kind of fallen in place behind each other, and it's constantly making us better as a football team.
Q. I was in a zoom yesterday with a bunch of Texas defensive players, and a lot of them not only were praising, obviously the play that you've had on the field this season, but also the confidence you've exuded, obviously referencing your comment at the end of the Big 12 Championship about you saying you're the best running back in the country. What is necessarily your reaction to a defense that's played so many great running backs and those kind of players you're about to face on Wednesday? What's your reaction to them complementing not only your style of play, but also just kind of the mantra and attitude that you've embraced really all season long but especially these last few weeks?
CAM SKATTEBO: I think the biggest thing is it's a respect thing. They have respect for me, and I have respect for them. I appreciate those guys for talking good on my name and who I am because I've given them no wrong to talk bad, I hope.
Those guys over there on that side of the ball understand what good football is, and they play it every week. They constantly fight through battles just like us, and I appreciate that side of things coming from them.
They're a good football team, and I'm excited to play against them and show them what I'm about and see what they're about.
Q. I'm one of those too on your bandwagon that love your confidence and your game. Why do you feel like, when you said you're the best running back in the country, how would you be better than Ashton Jeanty, and where does that come from? What do you do special?
CAM SKATTEBO: I don't like speaking on other players. I'm in one of the four biggest conferences in the country, and I'm doing it at the highest level. That's simple. I believe that I'm the best because I always think I'm the best. I'm going to continue to think I'm the best even if I'm a third string in the NFL or a starter, I'm going to still think I'm the best in the league just because that's who I am and that's what I believe in. If you have that mindset, you never know where you can end up.
I constantly preach that to myself. Obviously you've seen it the last -- my stats have been what they have been, but if you really watch the tape, it's different. Then also I've missed a football game this season. Imagine if I didn't miss a football game. Imagine if I didn't have an injury that caused me to miss a football game. It could be a completely different story standing here today.
Q. Do you think Texas has faced a running back of your caliber this year?
CAM SKATTEBO: Like I say, I feel like I'm the best, so I don't think so. No matter who they played, I still think I'm the best.
I'm excited to play those guys because I'm going to present to them something new that they haven't seen before. I'm excited, and hopefully they're ready to play some football.
Q. Texas ranks 107th in the nation in missed tackles on runs. Is there anything maybe you've seen that you can maybe exploit in your game? Maybe it's the power, maybe it's the speed around the edge that maybe can create an advantage for you.
CAM SKATTEBO: I feed off breaking tackles, and that's something I always hope that happens because you run your hardest but you never know how good the other player is until you actually play him.
I'm excited to see what they have for me because every team is going to have something to try to stop me. I'm excited to see what they bring to the table and see how they execute it.
Q. I want to get back to what Max was asking you. Yesterday we were on the zoom with the defensive players from Texas, and they had high praise as they studied your tape. They've studied you forward and backward. We're talking about the top defense in the country. Having said that, just a few weeks ago, you talked about feeling disrespected. Number one, I want to ask do you still feel disrespected? And number two, knowing that you have been studied so well by some of the top defenders in the country, how do you mix it up? How do you make it different so you get past them and through them?
CAM SKATTEBO: I think that's the thing people mistake on is why do I need to be different? I'm just going to play my game. That's what's been successful for me. That's what's going to continue to be successful for me.
We don't need to change anything to be successful. We need to play our brand of football the way we play it. If I do what I do, we'll be just fine.
Like I said, I appreciate those guys for saying it, but I don't feel I need to change anything in my running style or the way I run or how I do it. I think, if I play my brand of football, then I'll be just fine.
Q. Do you still feel disrespected?
CAM SKATTEBO: You're always going to feel disrespected, and if you don't, there's something wrong with you. You look at it, and your boss is going to always look at you like you're not at the highest level. So you should feel disrespected.
Me, I look at it like, if people still think they can stop me, then they're disrespecting me, and I'm going to continue to think that way because that's what drives me as a player. It's nothing on them. It's just the way life is.
I continue to fight through those motivational doubts, and like I said earlier, if you have any -- if you don't have any doubts in your life, it's going to be very hard to be successful because doubts bring you adversity and adversity makes you successful.
Q. How have you seen your leadership improve throughout your career at Arizona State?
CAM SKATTEBO: I sat down with Coach Dillingham last year after the season, and the one thing he really pushed me was I needed to fix my attitude and the way I go about things and the leadership that I have, and I did.
I realized what it took to be successful in my whole life and really stepped back and understood that positive thinking and positive thoughts and talking to people in a positive way is the way to go about life. That's what's going to make people happy, and that's what's going to make people trust you and want to be on your side.
I think turning the leadership role into something -- you don't have to be a screamer. You don't have to be yelling all the time. You don't have to be forcing people to do things. You just need to lead by example and do it with maximum effort. That's what I've been trying to do as much as I can so that people understand I'm giving it my all, so you give it your all.
Q. With so much time in between from the Big 12 Championship to when you guys are playing now on the 1st, how do you go about staying sharp as a unit and making sure those first few moments in the game are really at a high level to the standard you guys have been playing at in the last few months leading up to this game?
CAM SKATTEBO: I always preach it to the guys we've got to play our brand of football. Coach Dillingham preaches it to the team. If we do what we do constantly day in and day out and work as hard as we can, we're going to be just fine. If we just keep doing that day in and day out and forcing each other to get better, and when one guy works hard to be successful, you're going to see another guy work hard to be successful.
When you get a bunch of guys in the same room that want to be successful and are working hard, you're going to have a full team of it. I think that's kind of what I've been pushing for. That's something the team needed, and that's something that has been sticking around.
Q. You talked about wanting to show the nation kind of on a personal level what you bring to the game. Are you and the whole team sort of also kind of relishing this chance in the playoffs to sort of show what this team is about, a team that's been under the radar the whole season pretty much until maybe people started noticing late November what you guys were doing? How much are you looking forward to that opportunity in Atlanta?
CAM SKATTEBO: I think, if you're not taking advantage of it, you don't love the game of football because we are at the highest point in football probably anywhere. The only other spot bigger than college football is March Madness and the Super Bowl and possibly the World Series.
College Football Playoffs is one of the biggest things in America. If you're not taking advantage of showing out and -- showing up and showing out and proving to the world that you're good at what you do and do and elite at what you do, there's something wrong. You must not love the game as much as you think you do.
I think our guys are taking advantage of it fully. They understand the footsteps it takes to get here and they know what's at stake each and every day. It's been helping us fight to be successful and understand that, when we win the game, we have another one, and it's going to be even bigger.
So we have to understand taking advantage of these situations is huge because it can set you up for so much success, not only an individual player but the entire team.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports