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By DOUG ALDEN AP Sports Writer
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Brigham Young and Oregon were so eager to play again for the first time in nearly a month that the No. 19 Cougars and Ducks got in a little chest bumping early.
After a three days of pregame activities, both teams are clearly ready for Thursday night's Las Vegas Bowl.
"It's been a while since we've played. We want to get out there," BYU linebacker Cameron Jensen said Wednesday.
BYU (10-2) and Oregon (7-5) almost got an early start at a pep rally Tuesday night.
The Cougars were doing their ritual "Haka" war dance when Oregon defensive lineman Matt Toenaina hopped over a barrier to the BYU side and started bouncing and shouting among the Cougars. There was some chest bumping before Toenaina was led back to rejoin the Ducks.
Some shouts and taunts followed, but that was it.
"Matt just wanted to get involved," Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said. "It just got a little out of hand. That was it. Nothing really happened."
Both teams have had almost a month to let the pressure build. And Vegas isn't exactly BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall's scene.
"I'm not really well suited for the extra time. I'd just as soon get our teams together and play the game," he said.
Mendenhall took over the Cougars two years ago after Gary Crowton resigned at the end of BYU's third-straight losing season. Crowton is now the offensive coordinator for the Ducks and has been trying to not let his past with BYU become a sideshow.
Not much has distracted the Cougars this year. Mendenhall wouldn't tolerate it. The disciplinarian has pushed his team with a matter-of-fact approach of keeping focused.
"He tells us that all the time -- 'I'm not going to get tired of holding you to a specific standard. I'm not going to get tired of making you be the best,"' quarterback John Beck said.
The Cougars certainly were the best in the Mountain West Conference this year, averaging nearly 37 points and 459 yards a game.
BYU also ended last season here, losing 35-28 to California. It was BYU's first bowl appearance since 2001 and the Cougars didn't handle the experience well, finishing the season on a two-game losing streak.
The Cougars have won nine straight this year and swept through the MWC for their first league title in five years.
Beck said BYU is much more poised than it was a year ago.
"Experience always comes in handy when you're going through something a second time," said Beck, the Cougars' second all-time leading passer who will be playing in his final college game.
BYU has lost its last four bowl games. Oregon has lost three postseason games in a row and ended the regular season with three straight losses.
The Ducks, ranked as high as No. 11 this season, lost to USC, Arizona and Oregon State. The losses have been difficult, especially losing to the rival Beavers 30-28 on Nov. 24.
"I think it's really important for our community and for our fans just to show that even though the end of our season didn't go the way we wanted, we're trying everything we can to finish on the right note," tight end Dante Rosario said.
The Ducks last won a postseason game after the 2001 season, beating Colorado 38-16 in the Fiesta Bowl the year Oregon was snubbed in the Bowl Championship Series final standings in favor of Nebraska.
"We're going to get a lot more chances," Bellotti said. "We expect to play in a bowl game every year. We expect to win that game."
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APTV-12-20-06 1723MST
