MIAMI (AP) - Mario Cristobal says this FIU football team is the strongest he's had in his four seasons with the Panthers.

He means that two ways.

There's a glistening new weight room behind one end zone at FIU's stadium, a 14,000-square-foot space filled with high-tech equipment.

There's also the strength that the team was forced to develop last spring after the on-campus killing of promising running back Kendall Berry.

Cristobal says "not a day goes by" when the Panthers don't think of Berry, and his teammates say they've gotten incredibly close from dealing with the loss.