WHO IS GOING TO BE THAT STARTS AT QUARTERBACK FOR UTEP THIS SATURDAY? WILL IT BE LAST SEASON'S FOURTH STRING TURNED STARTER: CADE MCCONNELL? OR...THE AUSTIN PEAY TRANSFER...SKYLER LOCKLEAR? THE BATTLE FOR THE STARTING QB SPOT HAS BEEN NECK AND NECK YESTERDAY WALDEN SAID HE EXPECTS TO MAKE A DECISION ON THE STARTING QUARTERBACK BY TOMORROW OR THURSDAY. HE WANTS TO SEE HOW MCCONNELL AND LOCKLEAR HANDLE GAME WEEK PREPARATIONS. TODAY WAS THE FIRST TIME WE SPOKE WITH BOTH STARTING QUARTERBACK CONTENDERS DURING GAME WEEK. I ASKED HOW BOTH OF THEM ARE APPROACHING THIS WEEK...A WEEK WHERE THEY ARE NOT ONLY TRYING TO BEAT OUT THEIR TEAMMATE FOR THE Q━1 SPOT BUT ALSO FOCUS ON THE GAME PLAN 0━09 2━28 SKYLER LOCKLEAR: I FOCUS ON DOING THE BEST THAT I CAN AND ALL OF THESE QUARTERBACKS DO, TOO. AND THAT'S AMPLIFIED EVEN MORE THIS WEEK, BECAUSE NOW THERE'S A REAL OPPONENT THAT THAT WE'RE PREPARING FOR. AND SO, HONESTLY, I HAVEN'T EVEN THOUGHT ABOUT THE BATTLE LIKE IT'S GOING TO SHAPE UP, HOW IT'S GOING TO SHAPE UP. ALL I'M FOCUSED ON IS GETTING PREPARED FOR NEBRASKA. AND WHEN MY NAME GETS CALLED BEING AS READY AS I POSSIBLY CAN BE." CADE MCCONNELL: REGARDLESS OF THE SITUATION, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO GO IN. AND IF YOU'RE DOING THAT THE RIGHT WAY, THEN AND THERE'S NO REASON TO CHANGE THAT. AND, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE THING THAT I KNOW IS THIS. I KNOW THE NUMBER ONE. I KNOW I'M READY TO PLAY. I KNOW NUMBER TWO, THIS KIND OF LOCK, THERE'S A GREAT QUARTERBACK. AND NUMBER THREE, I KNOW THAT COACH WALTON'S AN AMAZING COACH. AND SO WITH THOSE THREE THINGS RIGHT THERE, I FEEL REALLY GOOD ABOUT GOING INTO SATURDAY, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS. YESTERDAY WALDEN SAID HE'S ALREADY IS LEANING ONE WAY AND HAS A FEELING OF WHO WILL START. HE ALSO MENTION THAT HE'LL LET THE BATTLE PLAY