George Ferguson Column: Lights have no intentions of looking back

Putting a rough season in the past is a cliché you hear time and time again in the world of sports. And as rough as last season was for the Montana State University-Northern football team, you’d expect to hear that cliché a lot as the Lights prepare to open the 2016 season this Saturday.

But, at least from players and coaches, you’re not hearing it all. No clichés about last year are necessary, because the Lights put that season to rest a long, long time ago.

Instead of dwelling on last season, all you’ll hear from the Lights, and all you’ve heard since fall camp opened nearly three weeks ago, is the mantra that second-year head coach Aaron Christensen has been preaching since the day he was hired.

“I say it a lot,” Christensen said. “But it really is true. All we’re worried about is being 1-0. All we ever focus on is winning our next game. We talk about that all the time, and during this fall camp, that’s all we’ve been focused on. We just want to win our next game.”

That game will come in the form of Northern’s season-opener Saturday against Rocky Mountain College inside Blue Pony Stadium. And while Northern might be tempted to look back on last year’s 0-11 season as motivation to surge ahead this fall, that’s just not the case. Instead, Christensen has focused all of his efforts on getting the Lights prepared for this season, and continuing to build the Lights into the kind of program he wants them to be.

And so far, those focuses are already paying dividends. It might only be fall camp, and it might just be practice, but the Lights have looked good. They’ve looked improved. They have more players, they have more talent and they have more depth.

In other words, Northern has already made strides, and nothing about last year matters. And, Christensen added, the program as a whole is making strides, too.

“We have to continue to make sure we establish the right culture here,” Christensen said. “Right now, we have 111 kids on the roster, and that’s way up from last season. And we let these guys know right away that if they don’t do what they’re supposed to do while they’re here, then someone else will.

“We talk a lot about the type of program we want here at Northern,” he added. “And we talk about how we’re going to achieve that. First, we want kids who are here to get their education. That is a must. Second, we want to make sure we compete in everything we do. Third, we want our players to be accountable to themselves and to their teammates. Those are things we talk a lot about in terms of this program, and I think we’re definitely headed in the right direction.”

Indeed. You can see all of those things in how Northern practices. Even after the hardships of last year, the Lights came into the fall invigorated, hungry, and ready to take on the challenges of a new season. They have enthusiastically grinded through summer two-a-days, and have gotten better every single day, with every single rep.

That’s been Christensen’s goal all along, and the Lights are certainly taking that cue from their head coach and running with it.

And again, last year isn’t even part of the equation.

“The message has been that our last game, or last year, it doesn’t matter,” Christensen said. “You can only control what you can control, and for us, that’s right now. For us, it’s the next practice, and making sure we get better. And it’s the next game. That’s all we’re worried about, because that’s all we can control.”

Enough said, coach. Your Lights are looking forward, not back. Your Lights are looking to make their mark now, with no worries about what’s already in the past. That’s how it should be.

So Lights’ fans, if you’re wondering what the Lights will be like in 2016, and you’re basing that wonder on what happened during their 11 games in 2015, don’t, because the Lights aren’t. Instead, do what the Lights are doing: Look forward, be excited, be passionate about now, about this season.

And in particular, be excited about Saturday’s season-opener. It’s at home game, it’s against Rocky, it’s Blue Pony Stadium. It’s a new season.

I’ll be there and I’m excited about it. I hope thousands of you will be, too.