Curt Cignetti Held Heisman Meeting with Fernando Mendoza. It Spanned 14 Seconds

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Standing at his traditional wooden podium, in his ever-common crimson windbreaker jacket, Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti admitted he hadn't yet broken his routine with quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

It was Oct. 27, two days removed from the Hoosiers' 56-6 victory over UCLA, during which Mendoza threw three touchdowns and scored another on the ground. The redshirt junior's Heisman Trophy candidacy continued growing more prominent, more realistic, and more difficult to ignore.

Cignetti tried to hold on for his long as he could. He said he and Mendoza hadn't yet held a one-on-one meeting regarding the Heisman Trophy buzz. Cignetti's messages to Indiana's locker room often center around staying focused on the present moment, on things that affect preparation and performance, and figuring out ways to eliminate noise and clutter.

Each time Cignetti delivered those messages, Mendoza listened. But Mendoza, quietly, had listened to some of the Heisman Trophy hype, too.

After Indiana's 63-10 win over Illinois on Sept. 20, Mendoza received a text message from a friend who noted he'd been added to discussions pertaining to the Heisman race. It was a "huge challenge," he admitted Tuesday, to handle the pressure that came with such a spotlight.

But for over a month, Mendoza largely handled it on his own. Cignetti said Mendoza had "got a lot of support off the field," and Mendoza began using a sports psychologist to help keep himself in a strong headspace.

Cignetti kept his antenna up, and he ultimately felt compelled to call Mendoza into his office the week after Indiana's win over UCLA and leading into its 55-10 road victory over Maryland.

"Fernando, I think, is a real focused guy," Cignetti said Wednesday. "I brought him in one day, and we spent about 28 seconds in here — not even that, probably 14 — regarding the Heisman and dealing with it. And then he came in my front door and went out my side door, and that was it."

Cignetti has been around a Heisman Trophy winner before, as he was an assistant coach at Alabama in 2009 when running back Mark Ingram won the award. Be it through his own experience or from watching how then-Alabama coach Nick Saban handled the moment, Cignetti built his process.

There were no adverse side effects, Cignetti said, to Mendoza's Heisman candidacy. And subsequently, there were few changes to any habits or routines around the Hoosiers' football offices.

Cignetti spent a lot of time in the offensive staff meetings in the morning, and he'd help put together the game-plan, but he didn't often walk into the meetings between the players and assistant coaches. And on the practice field, he only interjected when he felt it was necessary to get something done correctly.

But Cignetti, who has a pulse on his team like no other, decided he needed to give Mendoza brief Heisman advice.

The contents of their discussion, Mendoza said, featured Cignetti telling him to not worry about Heisman noise and merely stay focused on every game. Because, Cignetti said, postseason awards only happen if Indiana wins games.

"He was like, 'Hey, the Heisman's a team game. It's a team award. It's not a player award. And if you win, then you can get nominated for it,'" Mendoza said Dec. 6 after winning the Big Ten championship game over Ohio State.

The stars aligned.

Behind Mendoza's strong arm and steady hands, the No. 1 Hoosiers enter the College Football Playoff undefeated.

Mendoza, meanwhile, has won an impressive collection of hardware, be it becoming Indiana's second-ever Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year winner, first recipient of the Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, the Maxwell and Davey O'Brien Award and, of course, the right to be one of four Heisman Trophy finalists in attendance Saturday night in New York City.

To Mendoza, being a Heisman finalist is merely a testament to those he goes to war with each Saturday. He's insistent the Heisman Trophy is a team award, not a player award, though his name will be the only Hoosier, past or present, attached to college football's most historic piece of hardware.

"There's an analogy like, 'The only reason we're able to see stars in the sky is because the light reflects from all different types of stars,'" Mendoza said. "And I have so many stars around myself, whether it's my teammates, my coaches, my family, the support staff, that I'm able to shine now in this light.

"And I'm just so happy for everyone to be a part of this."

Mendoza never faltered, never made the back-breaking mistake or suffered the season-changing loss, on his road to Saturday night's bright lights and big stage in New York City. It's why he's the odds-on favorite to win the Heisman Trophy.

Cignetti long felt Mendoza was built for the moment. At each point, Mendoza proved him right. and perhaps someday, they'll be able to reflect on it over a conversation spanning longer than 14 seconds.