Technician: When was the last time you went on the road to a Division I-A school?

Gonsoulin: Last year actually, we traveled to Columbia and played South Carolina there.

Technician: What’s it like when you travel to an environment like that?

Gonsoulin: It’s exciting for anybody to go play up like that. I know a lot of 1-A people think that there’s a big gap in athleticism — we’re just going in and going to give it a shot and hope we come out on top.

Technician: What’s something you guys are looking to do or hoping to use from a game like that?

Gonsoulin: Basically, it’s our third game of the season, so we’ve got a few warm-up games before that. We just have to go in, giving it our best shot, everything we’ve got, and hopefully we’ll come out on top. We’ve got to practice hard for at least three weeks during camp and make sure we’ve got these freshman ready for the season: You go in there with the mindset you’re going to win. If you go in with anything else you shouldn’t be playing the game.

Technician: You guys have national title hopes coming into this year, right?

Gonsoulin: We got a new strength and conditioning coach: everybody’s coming together, the team chemistry has been looking awesome coming in. We’ve got a good chance at being successful. If everybody’s responsible and everybody works together, we’ve got a good chance of being successful.

Technician: What’s a personal goal you’ve set for yourself this year?

Gonsoulin: I plan to make first-team All-SoCon and break the single-game sack record.

Technician: What is it?

Gonsoulin:: I think it’s five in a game. Three and a half was the most I had last year.

Technician: What’s the key to getting a good jump on the snap?

Gonsoulin: Basically watching the ball and watching the guy in front of you. You’re looking for your keys of him flinching or flexing and the pressure of his foot. He’s going to kick back, and you’ve got to beat him to a certain point a couple yards behind him. If you beat him, you beat him. If not, you have to come up with a counter-move.

Technician: What are the other places you’ve traveled to [as far as] bigger programs?

Gonsoulin: West Virginia, we had Air Force my freshman year, and my sophomore we didn’t play anybody real big, but [we’ve played] West Virginia, South Carolina and Air Force.

Technician: Which place was the hardest to play at?

Gonsoulin: I would say West Virginia was a pretty tough place to play in. It was the best atmosphere. They had close to 80,000. It was very similar to South Carolina. But I would say the toughest game was West Virginia.

Technician: What do you know about N.C. State and that program?

Gonsoulin: They’ve got a good tradition. They’ve got a new coach, and they’re looking to battle back. I don’t remember their record from last year, but I know every program is trying to do better than the year before. I think they’ll be ready for us preparing, and they’re not going to overlook us. It’s another game for both teams, and it’ll be a good one.

Technician: Judging from [how] Appalachian State was able to play close with N.C. State [last year] does that help your confidence as to how your team can do against them?

Gonsoulin: I think it’s just whoever has the least amount of mistakes that day. Appalachian State’s a great team, as they’ve shown the past two years winning the national championship in our division. Everybody’s going to give it their best shot, and whoever makes the fewest amount of mistakes I think will come out on top. It’s definitely encouraging to see a I-AA team do as well as they did. But then again, they’re a great program, and hopefully we’re striving toward that door too.