PROVO — From the moment BYU blocked a last-second field goal by UCLA to secure a narrow victory in the Las Vegas Bowl last December, Cougar players have been talking enthusiastically about the 2008 season.

The theme for the upcoming campaign is "Quest for Perfection," and today, in the wake of an off-season filled with hype, high expectations and hard work, it's time for No. 16 BYU to stop talking and start playing football again.

"We've waited a long time for this," linebacker David Nixon said. "We're just ready to play some ball. We're excited for that."

The Cougars, who own the nation's longest active winning streak with 10 consecutive victories and have won 21 of their last 23 contests overall, entertain Football Championship Subdivision power Northern Iowa, which has won 17 of its last 20 games. The Panthers are ranked No. 3 in the preseason FCS standings.

Certainly, for BYU, there are ambitious goals looming on the horizon: another Mountain West Conference championship, an undefeated season and a Bowl Championship Series berth.

"These last two seasons we've been 11-2 — real close," said senior wide receiver Mike Reed. "We've lost four games in two years, which is real close to what we want to accomplish. But it's not quite what we want. We want to go perfect, with no losses.

"It starts this Saturday, facing a good Northern Iowa team. We just have to be mentally prepared going into the game and we can't lose focus, because we're facing a good team. ... I just want to help this team go out with a bang. I want to do something at BYU that hasn't been done in a while — that's an undefeated season."

Redshirt freshman running back J.J. DiLuigi, who will make his debut in a BYU uniform today, is eager to help his team reach its lofty aspirations.

"This is where we start our quest," DiLuigi said. "Hopefully with what we've done in the fall, we'll be ready to come out and play hard."

BYU is glad to open the season at home, where the Cougars have won 12 straight contests.

"There's a lot of anticipation after going 11-2 that past two years," said offensive lineman Travis Bright. "There's anticipation of what we can do, just like previous years. We're very excited to have the fans that we have. I think there are 52,000 season-tickets sold. It's really neat to see the encouragement the fans give to us."

While setting the tone for the season is crucial, the Cougars have declared that they are not taking Northern Iowa lightly.

"You'll see a team that is well-coached. I don't think you'll see much difference between Northern Iowa and some of the better teams in our league," said Cougars coach Bronco Mendenhall. "We think this is a very good opponent."