AUBURN - The days of simply staying fit during the summer are over.

Tuesday was Reporting Day on the Plains in name only. Almost every player aiming to make a contribution this season spent the past two months participating in a series of voluntary workouts led by the team's most experienced players.

Those summer afternoons were far from easy.
Tailback Onterio McCalebb said he leaned on the leadership blueprints provided during the Tigers' magical run in 2010. The win over Oregon had its start six months earlier, when the experienced veterans demanded better performance throughout the summer.

``When we won the national championship in 2010, we had nobody slacking off. Everybody came to work in the summer," McCalebb said.

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