AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Air Force's Joey Ashcroft starts his Thursday just like any other college student in the country. The alarm blares in his dark dorm room way too early and he fights the temptation to smack the snooze button for nine more delicious minutes of sleep.

	AFA kicker Joey Ashcroft prepares for the Irish.

But that's where the similarities between Ashcroft and just about every other student in America end. At the Air Force Academy, it doesn't matter that Ashcroft is the kicker for an undefeated Falcon football team preparing to play No. 7 Notre Dame Saturday night (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET). The Air Force Academy doesn't care about BCS implications or GameDay showing up signifying this as the game this week in college football.

All that matters is building the best cadet. And that means Ashcroft had damn well better get his butt out of that bed and get rolling.

And for the record, it is the alarm clock that wakes Ashcroft up at 6:15 a.m. There's no peach-fuzzed kid with a bugle blowing Reveille or anything quite so dramatic. Instead, he just gets up, puts on his blue Air Force uniform and takes one last look around the place before opening the door at 6:30.

If that door isn't open, someone will knock -- and it may not always end up well. See, 6:30 means room inspection. An upperclassman might -- might -- get away with having someone knock. A freshman, well, their life will get even more miserable. The cold reality of it, though, is that the doors are always open. That's just the way it's done here.

"These aren't as bad," Ashcroft said of the inspection.

This is nothing but a check making sure the bed is made, sinks and mirror are clean, the drawers are locked and there's no password on your computer screen. It's a combination of cleanliness and security.

It can be a lot worse. Like the IRI (in-room inspection) or the dreaded SAMI, officially known as Saturday Morning Inspection.

The IRI is a check of the cadet from his hair to his uniform, making sure he's shaved and his shoes are shined. The SAMI, well, imagine every scene in every movie where they check out the room looking for hospital corners, looking at the uniforms in the closet to see if they're ironed and pulling out the white glove to check for dust. Now imagine standing there as they do that.

"It takes a couple of hours to prepare for a SAMI," Ashcroft said. "That white glove is tough. The IRIs are definitely easier."

They're even easier this weekend. Saturday's scheduled IRI has been postponed so cadets can go to the GameDay site near the stadium. Actually, freshmen must attend and it's voluntary for everyone else. But make no mistake about it -- this is a huge perk that happens about as often as hearing someone say "Go Navy!" (OK, so maybe the Academy does care about Chris, Kirk and Coach hanging out this weekend).

Four classes, four hours

	Ashcroft's day
	6:15 a.m.  - wake up 6:30 a.m.  - room inspection 7:00 a.m.  - breakfast 7:30 a.m.  - Social Science 8:30 a.m.  - Economics 9:30 a.m.  - Math 10:30 a.m. - Ops Research Noon         - lunch 12:30 p.m. - Squadron meeting 1:15 p.m.  - interviews 2:00 p.m.  - practice 4:00 p.m.  - weights 6:00 p.m.  - dinner 7:00 p.m.  - study 10:30 p.m. - lights out

But on Thursday, there was still the little matter of the basic room inspection and Ashcroft has no problems. Ashcroft and his squadron -- Mighty Mach One -- march over to breakfast at 7 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, they are released to go to class. For Ashcroft, that means a schedule of four straight 50-minute classes with 10-minute breaks in-between starting with Social Science at 7:30. From there, he has Economics, followed by Math and finishing up with Operations Research, his major.

The classrooms look like any other. They work on Dell computers but the students are nothing like the Dell dude. There's no one eating Doritos and drinking Dr Pepper. The only drinks brought in are large closed containers of water so there's no possibility of anything spilling.

But what really catches your eye besides the lack of tie-dyed and headphones is everyone is in Soloflex-ad like shape. Muscles rip from their tight blue short sleeve uniform shirts. It's impressive and irritating at the same time.

After Ops Research, a course designed to teach problem solving, Ashcroft is finally done with classes for the day. It's a long four-hour stretch, but it makes him appreciate the few hours of free time he has every other day when he has just two classes. These are the tough days. He's taking 18 hours this semester.

'Beat the Irish'
As Ashcroft walks across the Terrazzo to lunch, freshmen run by. It's a tradition. Freshmen run everywhere at the Air Force Academy, stopping only to make a proper turn or to salute a passing officer and acknowledge upperclassmen. They also must yell a slogan each week as they salute. This week, it's "Beat the Irish."

Echoing throughout the day, you hear "Good morning, sir. Beat the Irish." Or "Good morning ma'am. Beat the Irish." Sometimes, the person on the receiving end of the chant would just smile. It was pure comedy and it never got old.

One cadet said it was "Just something stupid they make the freshmen do," but, more importantly, it's also something everyone has done. Ashcroft did it. Starting QB Chance Harridge did it. LB Anthony Schlegel did it. It's a right of passage at Air Force. They break you down and build you back up. They teach you everything from marching to how to eat. It's part of building teamwork and a brotherhood that the Falcons carry with them on the football field.

"You always try to find something to look forward to," Ashcroft said. "When you're a freshman, it's getting recognized (as a cadet). You can wear civilian clothes. You can have a car as a junior. You look forward to the ring dance (getting the class ring). There's just always something to keep you focused on the next goal."

More than that, they've learned to bond and depend on each other by surviving freshman year as well as basic training and combat survival training. In combat survival training, groups of 10 are sent into the woods with just three live rabbits for food. They need to survive for four days. Then they are broken up into smaller groups for evasion techniques. They spend days working on ways to survive should their plane ever be shot down behind enemy lines.

"The adversity we all go through makes us better as a team," said senior Bryan Blew. "We know we can depend on each other."

'Dress up that rank'
As Ashcroft continued to make his way to lunch, most of the other cadets were starting to line up in formation to go to lunch. Squadron after squadron -- roughly 110-120 cadets per squadron -- fell in ranks and stood at attention. With visiting dignitaries on campus, the Air Force song is played and eyes gaze toward the flag. (One note to anyone visiting, it's a bad move to try to talk to a cadet or enlisted man during this song. It's disrespectful. Plus you feel really stupid when they ignore you while standing at attention.)

	AFA football players eat together during the season.

Soon after, three drummers arrives -- two on snare drums and one on a bass drum -- and begin to keep the beat as squadron after squadron marches toward the cafeteria. As they pass the dignitaries, orders of "Eyes Right" are barked and heads whip to the right. Occasionally, a command of "Dress up that rank" is given, ordering the cadets to get in a straighter line.

It takes 15 minutes for the cadets to file in, march and hit the mess hall. Nearly 4,000 cadets will file in, sit at tables already loaded with food and, like a big family, pass the dishes around the table and eat. They have roughly 20 minutes to eat.

One perk of being a football player is getting out of formation. While nearly all the cadets have assembled in the mess hall, Ashcroft has filed down a flight of stairs and joined the football team for lunch. The players pass pasta, salad, corn, bread, orange juice and Pepsi around the table and eat. Well, at least until the football season is over. Ashcroft will be part of Mighty Mach One heading to lunch when the football season is over.

Following lunch -- he only has 20 minutes for lunch as well -- Ashcroft returns to the dorm for a meeting with his squadron. It's more of a briefing and very informal. The meeting usually lasts about an hour and occurs every other day.

By 1:15, Joey Ashcroft is in the sports complex. He makes his way to the sports information department for another interview. It's not easy having two people follow you around, especially when one has a camera and is taking pictures of your every move. Slowly, Ashcroft's teammates are starting to notice. They joke about ruining his photo-ops. They treat him like a superstar and ask if they can run and get him some Gatorade. After all, he must be parched from doing so many interviews.

	Ashcroft has made 7-of-8 field goals this season.

Ashcroft finishes talking to the reporter and goes down to the locker room to get ready for practice. It's there he finally relaxes a little. No reporters. Yeah, the photographer is still around, but it's almost like Ashcroft has become immune to him. Safe at last, so it seems.

Blew spots Air Force assistant media relations director Jerry Cross and asks about an interview that was scheduled. Cross tells Blew not to worry about it, that the reporter was "just going to talk to Joey instead."

"That's it, I've hit the low point of my career," Blew jokingly yells in the locker room. "They want to talk to the kicker instead of me." The place breaks up and all Ashcroft can do is laugh as the camera clicks away.

Practice starts early on Thursday because the JV is leaving for a game in Joliet. Players cross the painted message "Together We Will" as they make their way to the field at 2 p.m. Ashcroft is already stretching with the other kickers. Slowly he makes his way to an area in front of a hill. The left-footer tees it up and, without taking a step, drills a ball that floats up and lands about halfway up the hill before tumbling back down. He kicks about a half-dozen or so like that, then backs up and takes two steps back and kicks another half dozen that soar higher up the hill.

Finally, he backs up again, tees it up, takes three steps straight back, three more to the side and then one diagonally in. While repeating his mantra "Perfect kick, hard kick" over and over, he kicks the ball that lands near the top of the hill.

'I only broke one umbrella'
The biggest thing Ashcroft works on is getting height on the ball. Leg strength has always been there for the former soccer player who started kicking his junior year in high school. The mechanics are something he works on constantly.

"When he got here, we had to readjust his foot position and it's not something that happens overnight," said kicking coach Lt. Col. Jeff Hays. "It's like a golf swing, when you change it, you need some time before everything clicks. That's kind of what he went through. He had a rough summer, but he worked hard and it paid off. Now, when he hits it well, it has plenty of height and plenty of distance."

It hasn't come easy. Ashcroft learned to kick over an 11-foot net Hays throws out there by practicing kicking with his mom, Denise. She held up an open golf umbrella to help his summer workouts. "I only broke one umbrella," Ashcroft said laughing.

While the first team offense and defense are working, Ashcroft watches for a bit. Soon, they work special teams drills with Ashcroft in the middle of it. The practice pace is brisk and crisp. A horn blows at five-minute intervals and players hustle to work on something else. By 4 p.m., the team is huddled around former NFL player and college coach and current ESPN broadcaster Bill Curry, who's in town to call Saturday's game. Curry tells them the greatness of teamwork and how rewarding it can be.

While other groups fall into meetings, Ashcroft heads down to the weight room because the kickers won't meet today. He holds the team record for kickers with a 325-pound bench press and a 365-pound squat. He works out for over an hour, grabs a shower and heads back up to the sports information department for another interview. This time it's with the New York Times.

Uncle John
Ashcroft might just be the most interviewed kicker in history. Of course, when your uncle is U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, people notice. The players all know. Teachers occasionally ask. Media always asks.

"Last year, (John Ashcroft) spoke to us before the Navy game and that was cool," Blew said. "I mean, you think about it -- he's a big-time servant of the nation who meets with the president probably every other day if not every day and that's his uncle. Every once in a while it will come up, but it's not something we bust on him about because we all have so much respect for the man."

Of course, Ashcroft has heard the weak lines like "We know how you got in here," or "Guess you'll never get a speeding ticket" but for the most part, Ashcroft says the team does leave it alone. To him, it's not that big of a deal. Ashcroft and his uncle are close. "I don't get to see him or talk to him as much as I'd like because most of our time is taken up here, but we go on family vacations or I see him over the summer," he said.

To the media, well, it's a pretty cool hook.

"Every now and then the TV station will pop by and talk about it and reporters will ask if I want to get into politics or stuff like that," Ashcroft said. "It gets a little tiring. One time, someone asked what we do together. What do you think? We do family stuff. We hang out. We watch The Simpsons."

	Ashcroft has been a media favorite this week.

The New York Times interview has come and gone -- yes, they asked about you-know-who -- and now it's time for Falcon Talk, the weekly Air Force radio show. Ashcroft, the Mountain West special teams player of the week, is a guest. He follows Chuck Petersen, the offensive coordinator who's subbing in for coach Fisher DeBerry.

He looks a little nervous (he's never been on the show before) but handles the questions like a pro. He talks about how the Falcons are staying focused on the game, about how they know Notre Dame is a tough opponent, but aren't getting caught up in he hype, how good the BYU win was and even talks about his career-long 44-yarder against the Cougars last week.

Host Jim Arthur jokes how they don't have any gifts for the guests, but Ashcroft doesn't seem to mind. He knows he has just one more interview, then a quick dinner and it's back to the room for some serious studying. From 7:00-10:30, cadets are in their rooms hitting the books. Then at 10:30, taps plays and it's lights out.

He sets the alarm and calls it the end of just another typical day.

Joe Wojciechowski is the college football editor at ESPN.com. He can be reached at joseph.j.wojciechowski@espn3.com.