Donta Jones insists Vernon Powell, a former teammate, introduced “The Prayer”, a pregame ritual for 1994 players wanting to improve their off-season tenacity and amp up their resolve to win a national title after a missed last-second field goal left the Huskers short the previous year.

“Losing to Florida State the previous year with 1:16 remaining gave our prayer a purpose,” Jones said. “That entire off-season, we pushed ourselves past the limit on and off the field simply because we believed. WE BELIEVE became our team motto. It drove us every day to be champions and finish the business we didn’t finish in 1993.”

The commitment to every day improvement became a shared commodity and the heart and the soul of “The Prayer” which has become part of Nebraska’s DNA and continues to this day. It’s a step-by-step process that will require day-by-day improvement and yes, Jones can still recite every word of The Prayer:

Dear Lord, the battles we go through life,

We ask for a chance that’s fair,

A chance to equal our stride,

A chance to do or dare,

If we should win, let it be by the code,

Faith and Honor held high,

If we should lose, we’ll stand by the road,

And cheer as the winners go by.

Day by Day, we get better and better!

The team that can’t be beat, WON’T BE BEAT!