AUSTIN - Texas has gone Hollywood.
That's right.
And we're not just talking about Arch Manning's national commercials.
After two losses in the last three games but a scintillating, season-saving win over seventh-ranked Ole Miss last Saturday, the now 11th-ranked Longhorns turned to an unusual source for motivation for their final five games, starting with a home game against Mississippi State on Saturday night.
Steve Sarkisian has looked to the late Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend and five-time NBA champion. Sarkisian met Bryant several times because their daughters attended the same high school and played on the same volleyball team.
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He was particularly impressed with the way Bryant coached his daughter Gigi's basketball team and "watched him coach 6-year-old girls like it was the NBA Finals."
"Now is not the time for a relief syndrome. Now is the time for a Mamba mentality," the Texas head coach said, channeling the Black Mamba's obsession with focus and winning and refusal to quit. "We definitely buy into that mentality. And nobody did it better than Kobe."
Manning also looked to an L.A. star, albeit one off the court: television star Jeremy Piven, who played Ari Gold, the volatile, powerful agent for an A-list movie star on the hugely popular HBO series "Entourage."
Yeah, Arch understands A-list. Does he ever.
The Texas quarterback has watched all eight seasons of the comedy-drama, started rewatching the series and even went to one of Piven's stand-up comedy shows last offseason with some of his teammates.
"He was hilarious," Manning said. "He's cool. He's probably my favorite character in all of television, Ari Gold. We've kept up on the phone. I've been able to pick his brain, and just being able to laugh is refreshing."
Considering his much-scrutinized, oft-critiqued journey, laughter's a pretty good tonic for him.
He clarified that he didn't so much pick the actor's brain as have good conversations and reflect on his own struggles last season. Manning told Piven he had started watching "Entourage" again, and "then we kind of got on a hot streak. He loved that."
Manning was uncharacteristically at ease Monday after engineering the win. He said his roommates, like Bryce Chambers, constantly bust his chops to keep him grounded. He joked about Halloween costumes. He endorsed an East Austin pizza place.
He spoke for a team that's definitely looking inward for the mental resolve needed to avoid complacency after four highly emotional football games that all came down to the final play.
And he knows life in the SEC is anything but a garden party. It's more like a rock fight, week in and week out, even against a 4-3 Mississippi State team that won its first four games but is trying to nurse dynamic quarterback Kamario Taylor back to health.
Texas fans don't care if Sarkisian is channeling a Basketball Hall of Famer and Manning is using comedy to somehow lighten his load.
Hey, whatever works.
Sarkisian has used the analogy before but really brought home the message that his 5-2 team must fall back on the Mamba mentality Bryant made famous.
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He addressed his team Monday morning and emphasized the mindset Bryant used, a killer instinct that never relents. Sarkisian said he went through all the definitions of the Mamba mindset and relief syndrome with the players.
Sarkisian defined the Mamba plan as "that ability to reset, refocus, continuing to build toward another victory next week and not just resting on the laurels of a win Saturday night."
He said he saw it in action on the practice field, much as he had throughout last week's preparation for the 34-27 win over the Rebels, when Texas gave a maximum-plus effort and graded out at 125% of its average performance Saturday, according to Catapult Sports technology.
He saw an engaged team, a club that is hungry to achieve more and quickly flush a game in which the Longhorns blew a double-digit lead for the third straight game - this time, a 21-point advantage - but had the resilience to finish as strong as they started, after building a 24-3 lead.
"Winning is not the end all, be all," safety Jelani McDonald said. "We want more."
Sarkisian was overjoyed with the way the Longhorns overcame all manner of adversity, including a season-high 14 penalties for 121 yards, a sack that led to a fumble and an Ole Miss recovery for a touchdown, three Manning turnovers and a botched onside kick.
None of those miscues got 'em beat.
Hey, they're not all on the Kobe bandwagon.
Linebacker Justin Cryer admitted he leans more toward LeBron James as a role model. So does McDonald, who for the second time this season intercepted a Hail Mary pass at the end of a game to preserve a win, this time against Ole Miss. He also did it against Tennessee.
"I'm more of a LeBron guy myself," Cryer said. "Obviously, my brother (former Houston Cougar and Baylor basketball star L.J. Cryer) is a Kobe guy. But we know what Mamba Mentality is. That's an ability to not let your past performances dictate how you move. If you want to come in here and you want to take a deep breath like, OK, we snapped the two-game skid, that mindset will get you beat."
It's clear that Texas is looking anywhere and everywhere to continue its improved play through this weekend and beyond.
Heck, Manning also found solace in "Napoleon Dynamite," the 2004 comedy about a nerdy high school kid wrestling with challenges.
"I actually watched ‘Napoleon Dynamite' last week," he said. "Kind of got me in a good mood. I love that movie."
Whether it's Kobe or LeBron, Ari Gold or Napoleon Dynamite, they have kept Manning and the Longhorns in the right frame of mind as they prepare for another big challenge.
"But," Manning said, "I want to keep that edge from last Saturday."
Kobe would be proud.
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There’s more to Houston with the Chronicle. Subscribe today for just 25¢.This article originally published at How does Texas plan to stay focused after win over Mississippi? Try Kobe Bryant's Mamba mentality.