First, I want to link to a feature in Sunday's sports section on freshman receiver Carlton Mitchell and his relationship with boxer Antonio Tarver. I wanted to find a story for one week before the season that would introduce a player who we thought would emerge as a storyline this season, and I think Mitchell does that, with a compelling story. Good kid who's a reflection of a good mom, and they both were a lot of help in putting the story together.

Couple more observations from Bulls Fan Fest on Saturday afternoon ...

-- I think my favorite thing to see was the cones USF set up on the field at Ray-Jay, inviting kids to run the 40-yard dash against a Bulls football player. Some of the guys -- long-snapper Eric Setser and receiver Jessie Hester Jr. were two I saw over there -- were good sports, running like a mid-6.0 40 time while a little boy or girl ran their hearts out trying to beat them. The kickers helped as fans lined up field goals on the real crossbars: even lining up on the goal line for what amounts to a 10-yarder, some amusingly bad kicks out there. I've heard a lot of positive things about Saturday's event.

-- The longest autograph lines, naturally, were for Jim Leavitt and Matt Grothe, but there was an impressive line away from the tables for freshman running back Mike Ford. One fan showed me a gold Bulls helmet completely covered in autographs, with Grothe and Ben Moffitt signing over the logo on each side. Who got to sign the nice white pad on the bottom of the back of the helmet, the helmet equivalent of a sweet spot on a baseball? Mike Ford, #26. Fans are expecting a lot from him, but from what I hear, freshman Jamar Taylor is showing just as much promise. Taylor said he hopes to hear from the NCAA on his hardship waiver early this week, and news there could mean even better depth at a strong position for the Bulls.

-- For those of you who missed my (literal) 15 seconds of fame on ESPN's "College Football Live" on Thursday, I've got another Worldwide Leader appearance to shamelessly plug. Was a guest of the Junker and Crow show on WEAE 1250, the ESPN Radio affiliate in Pittsburgh on Friday. Here's a podcast of the show -- I'm from about two minutes in until about eight minutes in.