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and moved forward as Freeman was brought in to take over.
• "He's a competitor and he wants to be out there for sure. But he's handled it well," Frazier said. "Our conversations have been positive. We even talked last week about the possibility of something like this happening, just being ready. When you're in a backup role it takes one play for you to have to be the starter so you've got to make sure your mind is right and you're doing what you've got to do to prepare to go out and play and play well."
• Veteran receiver Greg Jennings, who will be facing his former team for the first time this week, said he hopes Ponder has learned from his time on the sideline.
• "Any time you have to take a backseat, any time you have to sit down for a minute, it gives you time to reflect and I think he's done that," Jennings said. "He's seen how important it is to play at a high level at that position. But even more importantly, how important that position is to the overall success of the team and what it takes to actually hold that position.
• "It's not just about your quarterback play, it's about how you lead off the field as well and on the field, how you command the huddle, how you demand things of your teammates. I think he's had the opportunity to see that."
• Ponder said he was surprised by the "short leash" he had to start the season, and he thinks he was putting too much pressure on himself. Life as a backup has given him a new perspective.
• "Now is the opportunity to take that deep breath and go out and have fun again," Ponder said. "I already got benched, so it can't get worse than that."
•

• RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- A U.S. Department of Agriculture official says there is some federal government help available to South Dakota ranchers who lost cattle to an early October blizzard, but it's limited.
• A Natural Resources Conservation Service program, called the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, can help ranchers with the cost of disposing of livestock carcasses, replacing destroyed fencing and rebuilding shelterbelts, according to Undersecretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse, who traveled to western South Dakota on Tuesday with Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. The special EQIP signup runs through November 15th.
• A federal disaster program that could have helped cover actual livestock losses has expired and won't be renewed until Congress passes a new farm bill. Scuse said that was frustrating.
• "This blizzard impacted lives and livelihoods across the region, and USDA is

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