FORT WORTH ? Christmas morning started so early for most of the Cal football team that many might have seen Santa Claus finishing his final deliveries as the Golden Bears descended on Fort Worth from all over the country following a brief break prior to resuming practices for the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl against Air Force on Tuesday, Dec. 29. The game will be televised by ESPN and kick off at 1 pm CT/11 am PT.

When you have a bowl game you have to leave for at 4am so you celebrate at midnight merry Christmas everyone haha

? Tre Watson (@tre1watson) December 25, 2015

Everyone reported for a 3 pm team meeting at the hotel where head coach Sonny Dykes promptly reminded his squad that enjoying their bowl experience and winning were not mutually exclusive and that a victory would help the team look back upon the bowl as a lot more fun.

After the meeting it was on to Burleson Centennial High School for a workout, where we caught up with linebacker Hardy Nickerson and defensive linemen Marcus Manley and David Davis before the Bears began the Fort Worth stage of their bowl preparations.

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After the workout it was time for post-practice interviews with Dykes, senior tight end Stephen Anderson and freshman defensive end Cameron Saffle.

“This is supposed to be a reward for your players for having a good season,” Dykes said. “We want them to come to Fort Worth and have a good time, and see what Texas hospitality and culture is all about, but we're here to win the football game. I told our players you can do both ? you can have a good time, you can see the sights, you can enjoy being around each other and make some great memories. But ultimately you're going to remember the game positively if you win and negatively if you lose. We're trying to make sure we focus all of our attention preparing for Air Force, playing well, and making sure to try to put our best foot forward and win the ballgame.”

Even though most of the Bears had left their destinations with Santa possibly still in the night sky the opening-day of bowl week was far from over as the entire traveling party gathered for a post-practice Christmas evening dinner at the team hotel before the players claimed their goodies at the bowl gift suite.

Finally, the day's activities had come to an end and with the wake-up call not until 8:30 am for the start of Saturday's events even with that being 6:30 am Pacific time most of the group will get a few more hours of sleep tonight than they did on Christmas morning.

When they arise they'll be refreshed for a day that will include the usual array of meals and meetings as well as a team practice at Burleson Centennial High School (201 S Hurst Street, Burleson, Texas) that is scheduled to begin at 3 pm CT and open to the public. The Bears will wrap up their formal activities Saturday with the Team Welcome Reception at Sundance Square Plaza at 6 pm CT.