Here's what Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz was talking about this morning on the weekly Big Ten teleconference:

On last weekend's win over Indiana and Saturday's game with Northwestern: "We had another very tough contest, hard-fought by both teams. We were fortunate to get out with a win, certainly very pleased with that. Now we get on to the next phase. We expect another very tough game from Northwestern.''

On when he is game-planning for a quarterback who left last week's game with a leg injury if that changes the way things are planned: "We have to play our defense. My guess is they will play theirs. We have to assume that Mike (Kafka) will be ready to go. We have to assume he'll be able to do all of the things he can do. He's a good thrower and a very dangerous runner. Dan Persa stepped in last weekend and did a very nice job. Whoever is in there, we just have to be ready to go.''

On Northwestern's success at Kinnick and if that catches his team's attention: "They've beaten us in 06 and again last year. We don't expect them to come in here in awe of anything. Pat (Fitzgerald) has done a great job with that program and we expect another tough conference game.''

On Iowa's player development philosophy: "The simple numbers and geography will tell you that the biggest challenge is recruiting here. It all starts with being under 3 million population wise in our state. The high school football here is excellent, but we won't ever be able to recruit 15 guys in state. We have to hope to get guys with an upside and an attitude that they want to develop. That is no different than when I was here in the 80s. You have to get guys who will become good stories, and if you get enough good stories, you'll have a chance to have a good team.''

On how that translates to recruiting: "We can't have a size chart. If a guy is too short, not heavy enough, we still have to take a look. We can't say we're going to get guys off that top 50 list. Realistically, we aren't going to get guys of that magnitude.''

On turnovers: "It's one game, I hope. We've been doing a pretty good job all year with the turnover battle. That's one stat we do follow and we've been decent with that. We have to make sure it's a one-game instance. We had an unhealthy amount last week. You throw in a shanked punt and it's unusual to survive that kind of performance. We feel lucky to have won the game.''

On Northwestern: "They're an excellent football team, extremely well coached. They are an excellent offensive team. Northwestern has been challenged from an injury standpoint, a little like us, but they've continued to play good defense. We haven't had a comfortable game with them and this will be another closely contested football game.''

On close games and if he is concerned about a mental toll that might take: "I haven't thought about that. We are in conference play, so we expect those games. And, because of who we are. We don't expect to line guys up and go out and win by 30 points. I go back to 2004 and every game was roughly a four-point game. If we're going to get on a roll, it's more likely going to be like that than outscoring people by 20-30 points.''

On if he does anything to ease the mental stress: "That's football. I go back to the 12-10 Alabama game with Tennessee. I think that's typical of competitive conference football. You'd better have that mindset or you better be a great team. We had a little wiggle room in 2002, but that's not the norm certainly.''