Neuheisel ON: Part 1

From today's press conference:

Opening Statement:
"We try again for that elusive first Pac-10 victory. Disappointed in the outcome the other day, but I'm certainly feeling good about the effort, especially in the fourth quarter trying to get back into the game. Obviously the team has been in a dry spell. But the effort is continuing to be there. Now we just have to continue to work to be more consistent on both sides of the ball.
"Sometimes when you're in the skid we're in you can see kids throwing in the towel - nothing can be further from the truth."

On what he's done to temper his own expectations:
"I read a little bit of John Wooden over the last day or so, read again that while winning is important, it's not how you judge yourself. It's important that our players, especially the really young ones in the program, believe that if we're continuing to work hard, the wins will come."

On the defensive struggle:
"We've played some pretty darn good offenses, but yes we have to play better on defense. I don't know that you can point at one thing. Assignments, tackling, just being where we need to be and making plays when they're there to be made."

On Sheldon Price's struggles:
"Until we stop them, we're going to have to face the facts there. Sheldon's going to have to continue to improve and we'll have to try to create competition there. We're going to play the guy who plays the best in practice. We're not down on Sheldon, he's a young player trying to help the team and he's playing hard.
"But we certainly understand we have to play better and not give up the easy yards."