I participated in the Miner Talk Monday with Jon Teicher this afternoon, here are the questions I asked him & his responses:

MM: Jon, good to talk to you. Given the first 3 games of the season, where do you see the biggest improvement to our squad? JT: Mike I think that the team's overall consistent play & the lack of turnovers (just one in three games), knock on wood, have been the biggest improvements to this point.

MM: I know you briefly touched on Nat Jeff, but can you provide any further update on his status? JT: Again, as I mentioned, Nathan is expected to practice this week. According to Coach Price, if all goes well he will be available for Saturday's game. Please keep in mind that the Miners don't practice for the first time this week until Tuesday morning.

MM: Jon, road games are tough for all programs. Given that we have a tendancy to struggle in these contests can you provide any insight as to what Coach Price may be doing differently to better prepare us for these matchups? JT: Mike I'm not sure that you would prepare any differently for this week's game at Wisconsin than you did for the one two weeks ago at Ole Miss or the opener against Oklahoma. What the Miners will do in anticipation of a loud environment is to work extensively on silent counts offensivily to counteract that noise.

MM: Speaking of kickoff, in a nutshell, what's the current disposition of our kicking game? Specifically, if you can, speak to the confidence level of Coach Price with field goal duties. JT: Coach Price, earlier today, expressed complete confidence in Steven Valadez's ability to handle all of the kicking chores. He will continue to do that with Dakota Warren being out. Valadez did have an extra point blocked against NM State, due in part to a high center snap.

MM: I lied, one last question...what was the attendance last week for the NMSU game? JT: The anounced crowd was just under 33,000.

This week Miner fans, the Mike Price show, on the patio at Corner Tavern & Grill, 2700 North Mesa at Cincinnati,this Wednesday at 7 p.m. Then, tune in Saturday at 9 a.m. on 92.3 the Fox for the Miners & the Wisconsin Badgers. Also, Coach Price's TV show can be seen Thursday at 5:30 p.m. on Time Warner Cable Channel 24 & again Friday at 10:30 p.m. on the El Paso/Las Cruces CW Also, Miner Talk with Jon Teicher every Monday @ 4:30-5:30 MST @ UTEPAthletics.com.