Added Horn, "Man, just his agility, quickness, his IQ, just is everything. He's a special back, and that's why I think he's going to be a gold jacket type of guy.
"I'm excited to play him; he's a hell of a player. I know he's going to be trying to get his get back, he's going to be running the ball hard, but we're ready for the challenge. It's going to be fun."
Football players are notoriously disciplined, with a single-minded focus that allows them to block out distractions. When Christian McCaffrey and the contingent in the Panthers' locker room say they'll focus only on the X's and O's component of Monday night, putting aside all emotions of playing against each other for the first time, you have to believe them.
But those moments outside the game will feel a little different. When McCaffrey puts on his cleats that represent a mission founded deep in the heart of Panthers' country, when Hubbard greets the man at midfield who taught him how to be a professional, when Jaycee Horn and Derrick Brown prepare to line up across from the running back that introduced them to the league.