Oh, they're pumped alright. Just not quite like you'll be.

Cougar fans will be charged up in the hot sun, foaming at the mouth, ready to darn near eat Panther stew as their team approaches kickoff against Northern Iowa.

Three-hour lunacy is forthcoming. There's a charge in the air. Season's (finally!) here. Time to get a little wild.

Funny thing is, asking various Cougars, they'll do everything they can to downgrade those goosebumps and adrenaline rushes.

Receiver Michael Reed insists he'll listen to some type of R&B song to soothe himself.

Travis Bright, an offensive lineman, says he'll be good to go as long as he can hear some country music. It sounds like there will be more iPods, including one for linebacker Vic So'oto, than in a high school cafeteria or a Michael Phelps fan club.

Even David Nixon, another linebacker -- aren't those guys supposed to sacrifice live chickens before taking the field? -- says it's "not his style" to go all DMV employee just before the team runs onto the field in front of nearly 65,000 maniacs.

"Just like our emotions are running, I think the fans' are, too," Nixon said. "Hey, it's a big day. We've been waiting for this for eight months, nine months. There's nothing better, especially at home. It's our stadium, they love us there. ... It's precious to us, almost sacred.

"But I try to be very relaxed. There are some players that will get really fired up, but that's not me," Nixon added. "Last year I would goof off with (former fellow linebacker Bryan) Kehl, throw the ball around. We'd stay loose. I'm not one to get mad at the world."

Can BYU fans say the same?

The opening game sometimes brings out the worst in them. They'll eat their own young. Bronco Mendenhall's first game as head coach let loose the boo-birds. Granted, he absentmindedly chose to punt in 2005 against Boston College late in the game when the scoreboard warranted going for it on fourth down.

Mendenhall said he made a mistake afterward. Yet jeering him is something he has brought up several times publicly. The cut left a scar.

But he found a confidante last year when new punter C.J. Santiago heard the displeasure of a fidgety packed house, after he shanked a couple of punts.

"They're probably just as excited as us, and want to get going," Bright said. "Just like the crowd, we want perfection. We want to do the best we can on every play. There will be a times where a guy misses an assignment, but that's just another opportunity for next time to do it even better."

This season could be the most intense at BYU in more than two decades. On the field, expectations are so high. People are talking about perfection, 12 wins in a row.

Off the field, the economy is struggling. That will no doubt make ticketholders feel an even greater investment in the product they're paying to watch. Skyrocketed gas prices leave fans also making a greater financial commitment just to get to the game.

Will those factors, or just perhaps some jittery first-game play, cause even more hostile reactions from the home fans toward their own?

When I asked him Tuesday, Mendenhall confessed that Saturday is "not my favorite day." You could see the anxiety on his face as he talked about it. Recognizing the natural magnitude of gameday, he respectfully prefers Fridays, and the fireside-speaking factor, or practices -- or just about anything else.

Bundle of nerves, apparently.

One that quarterbacks coach Brandon Doman must think is nuts. He knows of coaches that are in it for the "grind and the journey." Doman is the one who can't wait to rock at LES, where BYU hasn't lost the past two seasons.

He will work out for 45 minutes, try to sweat himself to death, just to release some of that smoldering energy.

Some teammates revealed at the women's clinic in July that rambunctious quarterback Max Hall will run around the locker room, slapping helmets and uttering some fighter-pilot type of movie line that sounds like nonsense to everyone else.

Reed's legs will ultimately get very heavy right before kickoff, he'll be so nervous. And that's a senior talking. Imagine what the new guys will have pulsing through their veins.

Yes, it's here. And in Provo, it's very special.

"Nothing can describe it," Bright said. "I love that feeling, coming out of the locker room, hearing the crowd go, whenever the players do the Haka and everyone erupts. It's amazing, but it's a lot of nerves."

• Jason Franchuk can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it