(Editor's note: UCLA wide receiver Danny Farmer will file a weekly diary with ESPN.com throughout the season. For more information on the Bruins, visit the official UCLA site.)

Nov. 3, 1999

Last week was tough. Our offense came out ready to play and we had a few chances to score early and we didn't. I think a lot of hard work and preparation hasn't been showing on the field and it's difficult to deal with. Arizona came out there and did a whole bunch of good things against us, but we stayed with the Wildcats until halftime. After that, they scored two touchdowns and kind of put the game away. It was just a very disappointing loss.

	The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Farmer is a Biletnikoff Award candidate.

Previewing Washington this week (for Nov. 14), I think the Huskies are a very good team. If I'm not mistaken, they are No. 1 in the Pac-10 right now. They just beat Stanford, and they have a lot of things going for them. What's good is that we have a bye week here and that will give us a chance to focus and concentrate on ourselves and just try to limit mistakes. Not having to worry about preparing for a team will help. We just have to just go out and get ready and get better as a team, then next week we can go out and get ready for Washington.

The Huskies have a great quarterback, experienced guys on defense and offense, a lot of big defensive lineman and linebackers. So I think it's going to be a test for our offense again to come up with something great.

Right now, the focus or motivation for the team is on the future. Faced with not reaching a bowl game, now it's kind of like a "strengthening for the future" type process. There are a lot of guys who are happy because, if you think about it, this team is going to be great next year with only a few guys missing from this year's team. Next year there are going to be the same guys in the same positions, so I think that is the greatest motivation for the team right now.

You know, this year has been a maturing process for us. I think losing builds character because when you're winning, things tend to slip through the cracks. When you're losing, all the pressure is there and everything comes out. All the emotions come out. But the one thing I've learned through losing is to stay level-headed. You never know who is going to knock you off or when you're going to lose. Whether the team is winning or losing, the most important part is how you play to yourself and how you play with your heart. I think that's the most valuable thing I've learned during my career here at UCLA.

Coming toward the end of my career here, I have had have a special relationship with some of the guys I came in with as freshman four years ago. I think I have a very special relationship with Pete Holland, Brad Melsby and Joey Strycula. I think the four of us really bonded over these last couple of years. I just know that those guys will be with me and be my friends for the rest of my life.

The great thing about football is that you spend so much time with a lot of people, and those guys are the ones who I think I've connected closely with. Here are four people who have really worked hard and done the things that the coaching staff has asked of us. Through that we've built a special relationship because we've kind of been through it all, the ups and the downs, and those are the types of things that build friendships.

Looking at college football right now, I think Florida State is the No. 1 team. I think the Seminoles have a lot of great talented guys and they are beating teams rather handedly and doing all the things that a No. 1 team should do. Penn State is a close second. You have two teams right there that have great programs and are really playing well. Hopefully, if they are both undefeated at the end of the year, they can meet up and play in the Sugar Bowl.

I think Virginia Tech might struggle a little bit due to its strength of schedule, but the Hokies are also a very good team. It's unfortunate that you can't have three teams playing for a national championship. Pretty soon a playoff system should be worked out where certain teams have to play through adverse times and through adverse playoff games to really determine a national champion.