And they remember that feeling.

“Last year we kicked our butts and got embarrassed, so it’s a game that counts,” Dillingham said during his press conference Monday. “If you weren’t here, the other guys on our team were embarrassed, I was embarrassed, so if someone embarrassed you like that, you better say something about yourself. They have the same quarterback and return the same wide receiver.” Many of the same players return from the football team that tore us apart.

This season the tables have turned. Arizona State (9-2) heads into Tucson on Saturday needing a win to secure a spot in the Big 12 Football Championship Game. Arizona (4-7) is playing for pride in its first year under Brent Brennan.

Here are highlights from Dillingham’s pregame press conference in Arizona:

Dillingham on ASU’s approach to the Arizona game

“It’s about us getting going, playing and preparing like we do. As I’ve been telling the team since week three: Every game you win makes the next game the most important game. And the more you win the next game, the more.” It doesn’t matter who you play, no matter where you play, because you won the last game. And if you win, the next game is more important than the game you just played. This is the most important game on our schedule because we are putting ourselves in a position where it will be important, not just from a rivalry perspective, but from a larger perspective of achieving other goals.”

Dillingham on a failed 4th down play against BYU

“Cam went the wrong direction I think I confused our people a little in this scenario. And if everyone isn’t doing the same thing, then everyone isn’t on the same page of coaching. It’s our job to make sure people are safe. We didn’t execute poorly, but like I said, we shouldn’t execute a play poorly coming off the sideline. Besides, we make sure we’re on the same page . I mean, it’s the fourth and one that we can’t be on the same page about, and that starts and ends with me.

Dillingham on ASU’s second-half struggles

“I discussed this with the team today because I think when we play with a chip on our shoulder, we play really hard. I think sometimes when we think we’re ready to take someone out and they hit us back, well, we. I thought it would just keep going, and then they cornered us, and at the end of the day they found ways to win the games, but we had two out of two chances weeks in a row with three possessions, to get four possessions midway through the third quarter, we fumbled one, we had the ball in another drop, and then we gave up two 90s – plus yard drives in a short period of time in the second half.

Dillingham on throwing away teams

“We have to find a way, similar to the away win. How do we find a way to throw away a team? We didn’t put Mississippi State away when we could have. We’ve had opportunities to put teams away and we’re just trying to figure out how to do that. I know it’s kind of strange because we’re winning some games, but we’re still in our second year and there’s still a lot of things we need to learn We’re learning how to win We still haven’t learned how to win a Eliminate opponents when you have some momentum in the second half. We learned how to win, how to fight back when we get hit in the face early, but we didn’t learn how to fight back when we get hit in the face right after we win.”

More analysis on Arizona State and the Big 12