They haven’t failed to remember what happened two months ago, because the ultimate goal is still their motivation.

But James Madison football players and coaches have buried their January national title game loss to North Dakota State for now.

“Of course we would’ve wanted to come up with the win,” Dukes senior defensive tackle Mike Greene said. “But we’ve had to turnaround and get back to work.

“We watched the film, watched the game and looked at some stuff like things we could’ve done right and things we could’ve done better or changed, but that was that game and we’re really trying to focus in on next year because last year is over and we’ve got to paint our picture for the 2020 team.”

Spring practice begins on March 19 for JMU, a program that finished 14-2 and captured the Colonial Athletic Association crown outright this past fall before beating Monmouth, Northern Iowa and Weber State in the postseason en route to its third trip to Frisco, Texas, in the past four years.

“In my mind, it was a long time ago,” JMU coach Curt Cignetti said of losing to the Bison. “And there’s a lot of notes in a file, but they’ve been filed away and we’re focusing in on the here and now and this year’s team.”

Seven weeks of winter strength and conditioning workouts have come and gone, so it’s onto more pressing matters for the Dukes.

With no reason to dwell on what could’ve been, starting next week Cignetti and his staff can assess their personnel, systems, and schemes. Players have four weeks to begin to show they deserve a more significant role, further responsibility or at least a closer look come August training camp.

And after losing 13 starters across the offense and defense to graduation, the idea of resetting isn’t a drastic one or an overreaction to the championship game either. Especially since with this version JMU is slated to prominently feature so many who were second- or third-teamers on the depth chart last year, or perhaps weren’t on the 2019 roster.

“We don’t even know who our quarterback is going to be,” senior offensive tackle Liam Fornadel said. “And there are a lot of other positions where we lost some great talent. But we’ll have guys competing for those roles and positions, and they’re already coming in with the mindset that they need to get better.”

Cignetti said: “It’s exciting because it’s a new team with new leadership, new guys with new opportunities and you’re starting at square one again. And everyone else in the country is, too. Everybody is 0-0 again and just like spring is sort of a rebirth outside, it’s the same way with the football team.”

Cignetti, Fornadel, and Greene aren’t overlooking the leadership aspect most importantly, with all four team captains from last year, including two-year team captain Ron’Dell Carter, preparing for the NFL.

“I want to better the people around me and be more of a leader this year,” Greene said, “being that Ron’Dell and [John] Daka, were the seniors last year of the defensive line. Ron’Dell was the leader of the team, but I want to fill in that role and be the leader of the D-Line and defense.”

Last week JMU wrapped up its seven-week session of winter workouts – lifting, running and participating in mat drills. And according to Dukes strength and conditioning coach Brian Phillips, the team handled it well.

“I think we’ve taken really good strides,” Phillips said. “We ask them to be here five minutes early and they’ve been here five minutes early, ready to go every single day.

“So little things like that, that most take for granted. But when you have 100 guys on a roster, to get every single guy there five minutes early for seven straight weeks, that’s a significant task. That’s thousands of opportunities to mess up. It really is, so I think those are small wins that I’m excited about.”

Of the individuals who improved most over the last month and a half, both Phillips and Fornadel first pointed to sophomore offensive lineman Nick Kidwell.

“Ever since he’s come in, he’s been a big kid,” Fornadel said of Kidwell. “And he actually came in around 320 and now he’s around 305, so he’s made that commitment to lose a couple pounds. And we understood that he’s a little stronger than most, but seeing him throw around the weight that he has, it’s been really cool to see.”

Greene mentioned how impressed he is with the work ethic of sophomore defensive end Jalen Green. And Phillips said senior cornerback Wesley McCormick “has done a great job” while FBS transfers safety Joe Joe Norwood (Massachusetts) and defensive lineman Abi N-Okonji (Minnesota) are fitting in well.

“Norwood was a kid I had at UMass,” Phillips said. “And Joe Joe is exactly who I thought he’d be. He can run and he can move, he loves football … But Joe Joe has put on 10 pounds already. Abi has put on eight pounds already and they look awesome in terms of movement.”

Considering the Dukes finished a 16-game season only two months ago, their injury list is limited entering spring practice.

Junior defensive end Isaac Ukwu, who suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp last August, is doing well in his rehabilitation process, according to Cignetti.

“But we probably won’t put him on the practice field until the fall,” the second-year coach said.

Cignetti said senior tight end Clayton Cheatham (foot), junior safety Sam Kidd (shoulder), redshirt freshman safety Jordan White (knee) and early-enrollee freshman defensive lineman Mikail Kamara (shoulder) will miss the spring, too. White and Kamara are dealing with preexisting injuries from their high school days.