"There's been heat since 1998 when we were 1-5," Hill explained. "There's been heat from the start. Winning the game had nothing with the way I felt about myself or my position. It had to do with seeing those kids happy."
Coach Hill was especially proud of the way the Bulldogs stepped up in the second half, avoiding a repeat of the lackluster effort against Boise State.
"To the players credit they never went into the tank like they did the week before," said Hill. "We battled back. We talked about drawing a line in the sand. We drew a line in the sand. We didn't back up. We passed the test."
And now with a new-look Nevada team on the horizon, Coach Hill says the Bulldogs will need to find a way to duplicate that second half effort, if they want to leave Reno with a win for the first time since 2007.
"Offensively they're still rolling up numbers," Hill said. "They get big yards. They get huge yards. They go up and down the field. The last two weeks against UNLV have been massacres."
Kickoff for Saturday's showdown is set for 1:05 pm at Mackay Stadium in Reno.
