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LINCOLN, Neb. - Barney Cotton choked up as he described the challenges that come with serving as Nebraskas interim head coach.He wants to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of maintaining a business-as-usual atmosphere in the wake of Bo Pelinis firing. He vows to make sure the players have the best experience possible at the Holiday Bowl.Yet, he still feels the punch in the gut from Pelinis firing and sadness for assistant coaches who dont know what the future holds after new coach Mike Riley takes full control following the Dec. 27 game against Southern California.Little by little, guys are being given notices that this spot will be filled by someone else and that spot will be filled by someone else, Cotton said. Those are the hardest things. Youre talking wives and kids and moving and new schools and all that. That really tugs at you. I wish I could make it all go away, but obviously thats not the reality we live in.Cotton is among five interim coaches who will be in charge of teams this bowl season. The others are Dave Baldwin at Colorado State, David Gibbs at Houston, Joe Rudolph at Pittsburgh and D.J. Durkin at Florida.Cotton already has landed his next job as offensive co-ordinator at UNLV. Baldwin is a candidate to replace Jim McElwain as the Rams head coach. Gibbs hopes to stay on as defensive co-ordinator for Tom Herman. Rudolph might join the staff of former Pitt coach Paul Chryst at Wisconsin. Durkin has been connected to several defensive co-ordinator jobs since finding out this week he wouldnt be retained by McElwain, Floridas new coach.The interim jobs might be more challenging for Baldwin and Rudolph, whose bosses were not fired but instead left for better jobs.Its a process that goes through the mind right now, Baldwin said. Youre 10-2, yet youre not sure if youll be employed at all next year. Theres limbo, but we accept that in this profession. If youre worried about it, you shouldnt have gotten into this profession.The bowl games amount to auditions for soon-to-be unemployed coaches, said Gibbs, wholl be across the field from Rudolph when Houston plays Pitt in the Armed Forces Bowl on Jan. 2.If youre good at your job, Gibbs said, you realize that if you go out there and coach your butt off and your kids play hard and play good, you have a better chance of getting a job than if your kids go out there and lay down and get beat up on national television.Baldwin, the Rams offensive co-ordinator, said he didnt hesitate to accept the interim job for the Saturdays game against Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.Theres a lot of uncertainty that goes on with the players in this process, and we wanted to make sure they understand were here for them and were going to make this happen, Baldwin said. Were a 10-2 football team for a lot of good reasons. Lets make some history and win 11 games.Durkin, who was Will Muschamps defensive co-ordinator, said because of the transitory nature of the business, its not awkward when an interim coach takes over for a departed head coach. He said he appreciated the trust athletic director Jeremy Foley showed in asking him to lead the Gators against East Carolina in the Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3.Ive been here five years with our guys, Durkin said. I want to make sure they get my very best as a head coach to go win this game and finish things off the right way. Thats where my focus is.For Cotton, his imminent parting with Nebraska will be more difficult than perhaps it will be for other interim coaches who will be somewhere else next year.The 58-year-old Cotton grew up in Omaha, played offensive line for the Cornhuskers and served as a graduate assistant under Tom Osborne. He was Frank Solichs offensive co-ordinator in 2003 and held several jobs on Pelinis staff since 2008. He has had three sons play for Nebraska.I wouldnt have traded my playing experience, certainly wouldnt have traded working for Frank and working for Bo and having Coach Osborne as the (athletic director) here, Cotton said. And having the chance for Bo and Coach Osborne to give my boys the opportunity to come play at Nebraska, where their dad played and where my folks have lived... Ill always be thankful and always be blessed.___AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Gainesville, Florida, contributed to this report. Cheap Nike Blazers . The Toronto Argonauts signed the veteran linebacker to a three-year deal Tuesday, hours after the start of CFL free agency. Nike Blazers Cheap Authentic . GQ Lundqvist quite well.Three rounds, and nearly two months later, will the Kings have the strength to reach the summit of the Empire State to claim the cup?Truer words have never been spoken. http://www.cheapnikeblazer.net/ . The Canadian tennis players first full season on the WTA Tour was a strong one. She has risen to No. 32 in the world rankings and will likely be seeded at the first Grand Slam event of the 2014 season. Cheap Nike Blazers China . "We were left with the overall impression that the team wasnt trending toward being able to compete for a Stanley Cup," Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said in a news conference at the clubs arena. "And that was just a clear signal and why it was time to make those changes. Cheap Nike Blazers Wholesale . -- Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe was alert and recovering at a Denver hospital Saturday after suffering seizure-like symptoms when the teams bus pulled into the airport Friday afternoon for the flight to Kansas City.NEW YORK -- Madison Square Garden underwent a recent $1 billion transformation, and yet it will have another completely different feeling once the New York Rangers hit the ice in the Eastern Conference finals. Gone will be the fear of impending doom that enveloped the club during its second-round comeback against Pittsburgh. Missing will be the nerves that any goal or loss could mean the end of the season. Suddenly, the Rangers are the front-runners against the Montreal Canadiens, and their fans now have the chance to celebrate the ride with them. "Having fan support is obviously huge," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said. "Unconditional love, its something thats really beneficial to a team." New York is riding a five-game winning streak, but four of those victories came on the road -- two in Pittsburgh when the Rangers erased a 3-1 series deficit, and the first two in this matchup with Montreal. The Rangers will skate at the Garden on Thursday night with a series lead for the first time since Game 2 of the first round against Philadelphia 15 games ago. "Its a good feeling, but we know weve accomplished nothing yet," forward Martin St. Louis said. "Were trying to prepare for a Montreal team thats going to come out with a lot of energy. We know that. This is a big game for everybody. We know where the series is, and its a big opportunity for us." Nothing is a guarantee, but to take a 3-0 series lead would set the Rangers up for their first trip to the Stanley Cup finals since 1994. Since New York fell way behind Pittsburgh with a dispirited home loss in Game 4, the Rangers have been playing with a sense of desperation. It didnt reset once they eliminated the Penguins, and so far they have shown no signs they will let the Canadiens recover. "I feel every game is a must-win in the playoffs," St. Louis said. "You go into every game understanding what can happen with a loss and what can happen with a win. Its a lot of momentum shifting, a buildup in the playoffs, and you want to make sure you keep it as long as you can." The Canadiens mindset is to regroup and play the kind of road game the Rangers did by jumping on them. Montreal is still dealing with the loss of No. 1 goalie Carey Price, who was knocked out of the series by injury in the opener, but now is trying to rally around third-stringer Dustin Tokarski. The iinexperienced goalie, who has played in only 11 career NHL games, got the surprise nod by coach Michel Therrien in Game 2 over regular backup Peter Budaj and was tabbed again Wednesday to start in Game 3.dddddddddddd. Struggled forward Thomas Vanek was dropped to the fourth line in practice on Wednesday alongside Danny Briere and Brandon Prust in another potential shake-up. "Dont read too much, OK?" Therrien said. "They might change tomorrow." Whatever the lineup looks like, the Canadiens have adopted a motto of no excuses as the series shifts to New York. "We lost the first two games. Weve got to do something different," Canadiens captain Brian Gionta said Wednesday in Montreal before the team flew south. "But at the same time, we had a pretty good game in Game 2. Weve just got to find ways to get more goals and get to them a little more offensively." They netted only two in a blowout loss in the opener, and then scored one on Monday in a 3-1 loss. The Canadiens grabbed what had been an all-important first goal, but they lost the lead just 17 seconds later and were trailing 2-1 before the first period ended. Henrik Lundqvist was the main reason the Rangers were ahead, holding off an early attack and then a third-period surge in which he stopped all 19 Canadiens shots. He made 40 saves overall. "We are down two, and we are going on the road," said forward Max Pacioretty, who scored the lone Montreal goal in Game 2. "Obviously, we would have liked to have Game 2, but we can only worry about Game 3. Weve got to be better. "We have to make life difficult for their goalie, and if we do that, I like our teams chances." Pacioretty, a Connecticut native, is also looking forward to the atmosphere at the Garden, even though he will be wearing an enemy sweater. "I love MSG," he said. "I grew up watching games there. I love going there. I havent played in the finished building yet, so this will be fun for me." One person who hopes to be back on the ice on Thursday is Rangers forward Derick Brassard, who was injured early in the opener and missed all of Game 2. He went through a full practice on Wednesday and was waiting to meet with the medical staff and Vigneault to see if he would rejoin the lineup. Fellow forward Benoit Pouliot sat out for a maintenance day. ' ' '