The Alabama State University football team returned to practice Monday afternoon in hot, muggy conditions at Hornet Stadium. 

With the 2011 season opener at Southwestern Athletic Conference foe Mississippi Valley State moving closer to the horizon less than two weeks away, head football coach Reggie Barlow says the moment is here. 

“It's time, time for us to be really focused,” Barlow said.  “The guys that are going to start for us, they've got to know they're going to play 60-70 plays, and they're not going be able to tap out. They're going to be tired; they have to stay focused and get through it. There's no way around it. Today, coming off a scrimmage and a day off, I just didn't feel the energy at practice, with the team feeling sorry for themselves. We've got to get it out of them and hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to do that.” 

It was another hot practice day in August, but Barlow believes the conditions the Hornets work in daily gives them an advantage if the team can push through the adverse heat. 

“I'm hoping when we are playing the game on Sept. 3 that the players can think back to this day, Aug. 22 when it was so extremely hot and they felt like they couldn't go anymore, and they were able to go,” Barlow said. “Hopefully we can draw from this day. This is good for us. It's hot. This turf gives us an edge. There's not another team in the conference that is practicing on heated turf in the hot sun. That should help us. But we've got to keep working and keep them going.” 

Alabama State is scheduled to practice Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m., Wednesday and Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday morning at 6 a.m. 

“The focus this week is identifying those 50 or so guys who are going to help us and travel over to Itta Bena, Miss.,” Barlow said. “We want to get back to the foundations of our systems and make sure everyone knows exactly what they are supposed to be doing. We'll continue to work on game-oriented situations and plays and continuing to get them focused for Sept. 3.”