On his health

I'm good. I'm good. Life's good. Appreciate you guys having me on. Health is good, no complaints at all.

On being back on the sidelines for Penn State

Obviously, health is obviously number one and taking care of all those things. Doctors said I was good to go and, obviously, wanted to be back out there with my guys. They work hard, they practice hard and they play hard. The expectation is the same for me. We expect them to play hurt, we expect them to play injured when they're not feeling the best. Once I got cleared by the docs, it was time to get out there. It's time to go.

On what makes his running back room special

I just think, overall, the group loves football. Show up every day, they work hard, they care. They care about their teammates. They want to be perfect in everything they do and it shows out there. They don't want to make mistakes. Just their work ethic, I think that's the biggest thing. When you've got guys that show up there every day, it's easy. It's easy to come to work, it's easy to do those things. Don't have to force them to do anything. They want to work hard, they want to know the blitz pickup. They want to know what's going on, what are we running. Day in and day out. Not just Blake and Donovan, but CJ, Tavi, Leon, Isaiah Gash, Danny Hughes. All the guys. They all show up with the same mentality and it's fun to come to work every day.

On the importance of blitz pickups

I think the biggest thing is that you've got to play without the ball. First and second down, receivers are blocking, o-line is blocking, tight ends are blocking. You have to do your job, too. When it comes to third down or pass plays, we have to do our job. Biggest thing is that they're bought in. They know that's important. They want to keep the quarterback clean. No late hits, no fumbles, no all those type of things. They take pride in it. As I tell them, if you don't play without the ball, you can't play. The biggest thing is playing without the ball. Whether it's fakes, whether it's QB read pulls, all those kind of things. You have to play without the ball. The expectation is the same. If you want those guys to block for you on first and second down, you need to block for them, as well. They buy in.

On how much he has to control Blake Corum's workload

I think that Blake has grown. When I first got here, a year and a half ago, it was slow down, slow down, slow down. Now he knows. He knows the benefits that it brings. He wants to practice every day but you just lessen his reps at times without him knowing so he still feels good like he's working. On Tuesdays, he gets a little less reps and you build him up throughout the week. There's definitely a method and a mentality to that. He doesn't know. He wants to work, he doesn't want to take reps off. He doesn't want to miss practice. I just have to hold him back and not let him know he's getting all the reps in practice.

On what makes Blake Corum special

There's not many phone booths around these days out there but he makes a man miss in a phonebooth. Some of those cuts he makes, shallow cuts, how quick he is. He can make an o-lineman right really fast and make a linebacker miss really fast. He just does a really great job. I think it's one of those things where it's just a God-given ability. He's special, he's a special talent and he's just a special person. Love coaching him every day and love the way he shows up every day. Not many guys out there like Blake Corum.

On how he puts the mindset of ball security into his players

Again, put the ball on the ground, you can't play. I think that's just the culture in the room. They know that, everybody understands that. As we give gifts, as you put the ball on the ground, as we call them, you get gifted a good surprise at the end of practice. They just know how important it is. You can't turn the ball over in games. They're bought in, they believe it. I think Donovan has done a phenomenal job. He put the ball on the ground a couple of weeks ago but he's a special player. His ball security from when he got here until now is just night and day. It's a want-to mentality. If you want to take care of the ball then you're going to take care of the ball.

On Donovan Edwards

Makes you a better coach because Donovan Edwards could start at slot receiver for most teams in this country right now. He's a special, special talent. Special player. Just makes you a better coach. Gotta coach pass routes and do all those things that receivers do that receiver coaches teach. When you have a special player, he makes it easy.

On keeping the running back room happy

I think that's what we get paid to do as coaches. Gotta control your room, manage your room. If you have good guys like Donovan, I said this before, last year, he didn't play much and he's a five-star kid. Just his mentality, the way he shows up, the way he works. He kind of set that culture so the next guy can't complain behind him because Donovan had to do it. Blake had to wait a little bit. Hassan had a lot of carries last year as well but Blake was the number two guy. I think when those guys set that culture and set that movement, they're not going to complain. They're going to show up, they're going to do their work and they're happy for the other guys in the room. It just sets that standard so the next guy, you'd be a bad person if you complain because the other guys had to do it who are really successful and really good. A guy like Donovan coming in and not playing a lot as a true freshman even though he was talented enough to. I think that just sets the culture in the room and the guys know, hey, Donovan didn't play. What am I complaining about? It's just fun to be around them, to be honest with you. They're just really good guys.

On who stood out to him early in the season

I think you'll start with CJ Stokes. He's a talented player. You saw last week, he almost broke one at the end of the game if he had stepped out of it. He's talented. Isaiah Gash is coming along, he's a walk-on. Just a great kid. I think CJ is going to have to help us this year and he will help us this year. Tavi is still getting better every day, too. Tavierre Dunlap. Don't want to lose him in the shuffle but I think CJ is the guy that—he's the next man up. Obviously, had the early fumble against Maryland, I think it was. If you fumble, you can't play. He understands that. He's a kid that is talented and will be a really good player here in the future.

On how much he gets a chance to step back and watch Corum as the veteran

Blake and Donovan. Donovan, actually, is a senior right now with the way he acts. That deep voice, he sounds like a 50-year-old man. I just think that's part of practice. Part of me letting them do it during practice. Say, hey, go correct them. I'm not going to correct them. What did they do wrong? They do it. They take hold of it. They know when something is wrong. They go get them. They go tell CJ, they go tell Tavi, they go tell Gash. Donovan and Blake, they handle it. I don't have to yell as much anymore, so it's a good thing. Keep my voice.

On the conversation about how important the MSU rivalry is

I think it's huge. We talk about it, there's no doubt about it. Everyone knows what's on the line. Everyone knows what we want to do. Everyone wants to win. Especially in-state guys, when you talk about a guy like Donovan, some of his former teammates play at that school. It's just important. It's important. When you live in Ann Arbor, when you live in the state of Michigan. This game is huge. We have neighbors who are Michigan State fans. My son goes to school with Michigan State fans. It's for everything. Just bragging rights for the year. It's really, really important to us and we're going to put everything we have into trying to get a victory.

On how much his players want to know about his experiences with the rivalry

It's one of those things, things come up. We talk about it and we move on. Don't be like me (laughs).

On the Paul Bunyan Trophy

I think it's huge. My son has a mini Paul Bunyan Trophy and he had it sitting out last year. I said, 'We lost. Put that thing away. I don't want to see that thing out there again until we get it back.' It's huge. We want Paul back. My son wants to be able to put Paul out in his bedroom. We want to get him back. We have to get him back.

On lessons learned from last year's game

I think they know. Michigan State is a good team, they are a really good team. They've had some bumps in the room this year but they are a talented group of players and they're a strong defense. They know how to stop the run, they know how to play defense. It's going to be a challenge. The guys know. They know we're not just walking in. They know what's up against us and we have to show our best game to win.

On the offensive line

I think they're a tight-knit group. Coach Moore has done such a great job with the chemistry between them all. Whether it's Trente in there or Karsen in there at tackle. The guys don't miss a beat, they don't skip a beat. With Zinter, they play so hard. Ryan Hayes, Olu in there. The guys are just fun to be around and they love ball and they love each other. That's just how this team is. They work hard and they play hard.