Backup quarterback Bush Hamdan and Boise State mixed it up with about 30 kids from the Boys & Girls Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. AP

"There you go," says Petersen. "So ask all these guys what they want to do when they leave here."

Boise State hasn't exactly been a hotbed for NFL talent since moving up to Division I-A in 1996. During that time only six players have been drafted, none in the first round and only one before the fifth round.

"We're all second chance guys," says running back Ian Johnson. "None of us were big-time guys in high school. We understand where everyone on this team is coming from. We look at each other and we all know what it was like to get here. It was tough. When I got recruited by Boise State I had barely even heard of them. I didn't know [anything] about them."

*****

The Scottsdale Plaza Resort is a five-star oasis in the middle of the desert with five swimming pools, lighted tennis courts and Arizona's largest whirlpool spa. It's a place where the wealthy go to escape and eat the famed Sonoran crab cakes at Remington's in between tee times. It's also a far cry from the Ramada in Laramie, Wyo., where Boise State stayed before its first game of the season in September.

"The sign was coming off in the front, there was brown water coming out of the faucet," says cornerback Quinton Jones. "I would never play another game in Wyoming again if I had to stay there."

At this moment, the 40-acre resort in the shadow of Camelback Mountain has been transformed into Boise South with orange and blue banners and flags hanging around the lobby welcoming the Broncos. "The hospitality has been amazing," says Petersen. "There's always a Fiesta Bowl official in a yellow jacket waiting to help you. One of them asked me if I needed anything this morning and I said, 'Yeah, we need to get bigger and faster.'"

While Fiesta Bowl officials couldn't help out with the latter, they did their best to accommodate the former by sending the team to Drinkwater's City Hall Steakhouse, a swanky restaurant located in the heart of old Scottsdale's entertainment district. As the players stepped off the buses, onto the red carpet and then to a private section in the back, they were greeted by waitresses offering up toasted ravioli and jumbo onion rings. "This place is pretty nice," says quarterback Bush Hamden. "You don't see too many places like this in Boise. We're coming up though. We just got a P.F. Chang's and a California Pizza Kitchen."

With soothing mix of Frank Sinatra and Michael Buble playing in the background, the food continues to be delivered to the tables -- Caesar salad, creamed corn, steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, baked macaroni and cheese and garlic mashed potatoes. Then comes the main course, a 16-ounce New York Strip, which comes on a plate so hot that the steak still sizzles on it. "You can cook the steak on the plate," says linebacker Tim Brady as he cuts the meat and places the pieces around the plate, turning his meat from medium to medium well.

While he tries to enjoy his meal, Brady, who is engaged to Brittany Hawkins, the daughter of former Boise State and current Colorado coach Dan Hawkins, is getting teased about his upcoming marriage by linebacker Mike Altieri.

"So are you going to take her name when you guys get married?" he asks with a smirk on his face.

"How many times have you asked me that?" Brady says.

"I don't know," says Altieri. "I still think it's funny."

*****

After participating in an early morning press conference, Johnson is lying down on a couch in the lobby of the Scottsdale Plaza Resort with his headphones on and his nameplate, which he took after the press conference, placed on the table in front of him.

"They woke me up at 7 a.m. for the press conference," he says as he curls up on the couch. "I want to take a nap now. I'm so tired. They were asking me crazy questions, like what do you think about Adrian Peterson not knowing who you are? They were being real rude and trying to put me down. If Adrian Peterson doesn't know who I am, what am I supposed to say? I guess he's not a college football fan."

When he isn't sleeping, Johnson's presence is as loud as the heavy metal tunes that are usually blaring from his headphones. He is more than unique.

"I need to invent a word to describe him," says his sister Kaila. "He's so much better than quirky he needs his own category."