L ike most of us, Texas A&M free safety Jordan Pugh enjoys spending time with friends and family members during the holiday season. But he reached his limit last December.

The breaking point, Pugh said, came while exchanging holiday cheer during phone calls with friends who played for Texas, Oklahoma or other bowl-bound football teams.

"Hearing them talk about their bowl practices kind of made you mad," Pugh said. "I like being at home with my family. But I like playing in bowl games better than that."

The memory of what eluded him last season, when the Aggies were 4-8 and home for the holidays, returned to the forefront of Pugh`s mind this week. The senior has shared those reflections with younger teammates to reinforce what is on the line for A&M (5-3, 2-2 in Big 12) in Saturday`s game at Colorado (2-6, 1-3).

With a victory, the Aggies would become bowl-eligible. Pugh said that would be a "huge" first step toward reaching the goal the team envisions under second-year coach Mike Sherman.

"We`re looking to finish out 9-3," Pugh said. "That`s what we want. But we`ve got to take it step by step. To be bowl-eligible, you have to win. We want to win out the rest of the season. That`s the motivation we`re playing with right now."

Such a statement would have sounded silly to all but the most ardent of Aggie loyalists on Oct. 17, when A&M absorbed a 62-14 drubbing at Kansas State. The loss was A&M`s third in a row, dropping the record to 3-3 with nothing but matchups against Big 12 opponents remaining.

That is when Sherman made a bold move. Five days before the team`s Oct. 24 game at Texas Tech, he held a postgame victory ritual -- handing out carabiner clips to players -- in the Aggies` locker room and told his troops, "I might as well give (these) to you now because ... we`re going to go win this football game."

Sherman said Monday he used the motivational ploy, which symbolized A&M`s long climb back to the top, before the Tech game because he "felt the team had a lot of character" and "would come out swinging" after the lopsided loss to K-State. It did.

A&M upset Tech 52-30 and followed up with last week`s 35-10 rout of Iowa State. Heading into Saturday`s game in Boulder, the Aggies have won consecutive conference games by 20 or more points for the first time since 2002. They boast the nation`s sack leader in defensive end Von Miller (13½) and have an offense that has crossed the 500-yard barrier in all five of its victories this season.

But after the Colorado game, the Aggies face a three-game closing stretch against teams that beat them by 20 or more points last season: No. 20 Oklahoma (66-28), Baylor (41-21) and No. 2 Texas (49-9).

That is why players feel a sense of urgency to become bowl-eligible this week.

"Now that we`re close, we`ve got to keep pushing. That`s what we`re fighting for," said left guard Evan Eike, whose move into the starting lineup has coincided with A&M`s two-game winning streak. "We want to be playing in a bowl game this off-season, not sitting at home."

Jerrod Johnson, A&M`s quarterback, said reaching the six-win minimum for bowl eligibility is "something we`re trying to stress" this week."