Two football games into the season, Reveille IX is getting the hang of being a part of the 12th Man.
Ian Moss, mascot corporal and construction science sophomore, said Reveille impressed him at the Arizona State game with how well she handled the noise.
“What happened last week was that it was just indoor, and all the sound was just a constant roar, which I felt was almost easier for her than the up and down stimulus of it getting louder and then quieter again,” Moss said. “But I can definitely tell the last game in Houston was a little bit more exciting for her — she was jumping around a lot more, she was barking. She wasn’t stressed, she wasn’t scared, it’s just whenever the crowd got excited she’d get excited.”
Moss said one of his fears was after the game Reveille would be traumatized from the noise and the stress, but the way she behaved in the locker room indicated she was fine.
“Every time we took her back to the locker room she was playing, she was obedient — she even chewed on a waterbottle, and what that tells us is that her brain is not fried and she’s able to kind of forget about her surroundings and focus on one thing,” Moss said. “And so that was really encouraging to have her be able to do that kind of stuff.”
At Saturday’s game, Moss said Reveille fed off his and the 12th Man’s energy.
“I talked to Ryan Kreider a lot, and he said a lot of the things Rev IX was exhibiting, whether it be the way she laid down or how she was dealing with the noise and excitement, was the same way Rev VIII did,” Moss said. “So that was encouraging to hear because it kind of shows me that she’s already getting a hang of what’s going on.”
Moss said training Reveille for a football game is difficult, because it is impossible to simulate Kyle Field.
“We can try to get close, we can break it up, whether it be bringing her to a sporting event on the weekend, like a high school game or something like that,” Moss said. “That way she can get used to the crowd roar and the clapping, but it’s obviously never going to match Kyle Field.”
Moss said at Midnight Yell Friday, he could tell Reveille was bothered by the cannon, so at Saturday’s game, he focused on getting Reveille accustomed to its sound.
“The first three touchdowns we scored — every time they got in the red zone we would leave the stadium and let her hear [the cannon] from a distance and get closer and closer each time,” Moss said. “And by the fourth touchdown we just stayed out on the field and saw how she reacted with it full blown with her right there. And she did great — by the end it didn’t really bother her at all.”
Moss said one of the main things he does to get Reveille acclimated is build her confidence as much as possible.
“We worked three times a week over the summer and then every day during the week during the school year — so the school year started and we’re just kind of breaking it up, socializing her with as much stuff as we can,” Moss said. “Confidence is key, just building that confidence for her so that she can kind of experience any noises and get over it. As she builds the confidence, she just does a lot better.”
