This week's guest: strong safety Bobby Jackson.

Q: The team is going to end up with three or four wins. Based on what happened last season, is that acceptable progress to you?

A: It's acceptable progress, but it's not an acceptable destination. I wanted to go to the Rose Bowl. I only have high expectations.

Q: What was it like as a true freshman to play on a winless team?

A: It's not a new taste to me because in seventh or eighth grade I played on a 1-8 team. I felt it before. It wasn't really hard for me because I felt going into every game that we had a chance to win.

Q: Was it easier to play on the team than it would have been sitting out as a redshirt?

A: There are ups and downs to everything you do. You can look at it as I used my true freshman year to play on a winless team. Or I could have sat out a year and tried to learn everything from a winless team. Or I could have gone out there and take the bumps, bites and bruises you have to take to get good. I had to go out there and get my feet wet, get knocked around.

Q: Your dad was a football coach at Northern Illinois and Oregon State and still a member of the football staff. Does his past give you a better understanding of what it takes to turn around a program?

A: I've seen it. I understand that it takes a lot. At Northern, they really turned it around the last couple years. I was young then, but I understand it now.

Q: You could have gone anywhere out of high school: UCLA, Ohio State and others. Are there times you wish you had picked a place where you would have been in a bowl game already?

A: I thought about it in the middle of the season when I was looking at the rankings. I said, "UCLA and Ohio State are 1 and 2." I just think it's kind of funny. I was like, "I could have been there." But then I said, "I may not have been playing." I wanted to play early.

Q: Describe your favorite on-field moment from your first two seasons at Illinois.

A: After the Middle Tennessee State game, I started talking to Coach Turner knowing some guys behind me were getting Gatorade. I put my arm around him, then I looked over at him and said, "Coach, I got you." Then they dumped the Gatorade on him. It was a great moment. He couldn't get mad. It was the first win, and it felt really good.

Q: Describe your worst on-field moment from your first two seasons at Illinois.

A: My first start, a lot of people tell me I had a really good game. I had 11 tackles against Purdue. I remember a play where I was going to hit the guy, and I think my foot got caught in the turf. I started falling, and he jumped over me. That was one of the most embarrassing moments.

Q: You have two years left at Illinois. What will the team's record be?

A: I expect the best, so I'm going to say 11-0 both years.

Q: Your younger brother is a highly recruited safety. Who is the better player?

A: I think he's better than I am. He's better on his feet. He's a little bit quicker. I was stronger because I got into weights a little bit earlier. I just think he's a really fluid player.

Q: Do you think about playing in the same secondary with him at Illinois?

A: I talked about it with him a little bit. It's just a really different opportunity. There aren't too many people who get a chance to play with their brother.

Q: Will you try to talk him into coming to Illinois?

A: No. I'm going to leave it up to him.

Q: How do your discussions go?

A: I tell him how it is, and I will not lead him astray. That's blood, and I would never want to put him in a bad situation and have it be my fault. I tell him how we do things here and how I think he should look at things.

Q: Ron Turner and Leslie Frazier visited your house despite a flood. Did their willingness to show up no matter what play a part in your decision to stay with Illinois?

A: When I first heard about it, I knew they were going to get trapped in the flood. We were blocked in. When I finally thought about it I said, "These guys are really crazy, or they really want me." It had a positive influence on me.

Q: Coach Frazier seems very low-key. Is he a good fit for you?

A: You see a lot of guys getting yelled at. After practice you say, "Man, I heard your coach way down there." It's a really different thing for me. I've heard coaches yell a lot, and he's just quiet and laid back.

Q: Do you care about All-Big Ten and All-America honors?

A: It's not a big deal right now. Right now, the picture I want to paint is the University of Illinois on top of the Big Ten. I want to paint that for the next two years. I want Illinois to be the top of the Big Ten from here on out.

Q: You played wide receiver and running back in high school. Do you ever wish you could carry the ball again?

A: I've thought about it, and I could go in as a receiver every now and then. Running back, it's a whole new level in college. Once you break that line, you've still got 11 guys running at you.

Q: Tell me something people don't know about you.

A: I'm a pretty quiet person off the field. I'm loud on the field. I enjoy relaxing and if I can, getting out and looking at the stars.

Q: Are you still going to be an astronaut?

A: Probably not. The engineering program at this school and football on top of that is a little difficult.