SportsTalkFlorida Mornings on 1080 The Team spent their Wednesday edition previewing Friday's UCF-USF game by talking to a pair of former players who played in the four games between 2005 and 2008.

Audio: Former UCF, USF players reminsice on rivalryClick Host Eric Lopez spoke with former UCF quarterback Kyle Israel (2004-07) and USF safety Carlton Williams (2004-08).Here to view this Link.

Asked for the first thing that comes to mind regarding the UCF-USF series, Williams replied, "Domination."

The Bulls are a perfect 4-0 in the series.

Though some said it wasn't a rivalry if one side never wins, Williams says he was disappointed to see the series come to an end. UCF was always in favor of playing an annual game, but USF didn't want any part of that. The 2005-08 games were only scheduled to satisfy USF's exit agreement from Conference USA. This year's game only came about because both teams now compete in the same conference.

"Yes, we were (disappointed in the cancellation of the series)," Williams said. "We were trying to build tradition. We wanted a game to look forward to every year. We're not too far apart from each other... We were a little upset at first and I know people were thinking it wasn't much of a rivalry because we were 4-0, but we still looked forward to it. That's how it starts. Just because one team is up ahead, you still have to give the team a chance to come back. Now the tables are turned a little bit. Now UCF is the better team on paper than we are right now. Before it was a role reversal."

Israel was UCF's starting quarterback during the 2007 Conference USA Championship season, but the black mark of that year - one he admitted he has tried to forget - was the demoralizing 64-12 loss to USF in Tampa.

He admitted he wasn't a fan of his counterpart at USF, quarterback Matt Grothe, whose trash-talking carried from the field to the postgame interview. "I hope they like what happened," Grothe said afterward, "because we weren't trying to run the score up on them. We're that much better than them."

Israel says the bitterness lingers.

"There's a serious dislike for those guys," Israel said. "I'm not friends with anybody from South Florida. I respect Matt Grothe for the player that he was, for the way he moved his team up and down the field and some of the things he created. I think he kind of, in my opinion, not at the same level, but was the poor man's Johnny Manziel, the first exposure to a little guy who could run around and make things happen with his feet and his arm, but I never respected how he carried himself in the media and on the field. I never really liked him, personally. I know (former UCF quarterback Steven) Moffett had a lot of the same thoughts as well. There's not a good feeling about that team and those players."

The emotion goes both ways. Williams recalled former USF head coach Jim Leavitt, prior to the 2006 game, being moved to tears while a reading Mike Bianchi column that called his program "an embarrassment" that "has become a rehabilitation clinic and halfway house for dregs and druggies."

Audio: Former UCF, USF players reminsice on rivalryClick "Before we left on the bus ride, I remember Coach Leavitt pulled out an article written about us and it actually brought tears to his eyes," Williams said. "That's the first time I'd ever seen my coach cry, so it's a little upsetting. Maybe he did a good job of acting to get us fired up, but it worked. He was reading the article and they were talking about the USF program, about how USF was a rehabilitation center for druggies, criminals, things like that. It really upset us. We were trying to build tradition at our school... You start reading things like that, that's very upsetting. From then on, we took it as a personal challenge. Now when we play them, those are the types of memories we recall. We didn't need a speech before the game. We were already ready to go. To me, that's one of the most memorable things. Coach Leavitt is reading us this article to the point where it was bringing tears to his eyes. A lot of guys got emotional. If our head coach can get that emotional about a game, I'm sure we can find a little more energy to put towards it."Here to view this Link.