CHAPEL HILL – Steak, burgers or football?

That’s the question, and in Mack Brown’s quest to push his team forward to an appropriate mindset, it sort of comes down to who chows and who doesn’t during pre-game meals.

Of course, that’s really just a metaphor the head coach used Wednesday morning, but there’s some there-there to it as well, especially with North Carolina preparing to visit struggling Georgia Tech on Saturday.

The Tar Heels’ emotional output in its five games so far has ebbed and flowed considerably, and the line that separates victory from defeat can be traced to their full investment so far.

After spending a great deal of energy in wins over South Carolina and Miami, the Tar Heels didn’t quite have the same edge in losses to Wake Forest and Appalachian State. That wasn’t an issue this past weekend versus Clemson, as the Heels brought it in every manner and nearly pulled off what would have been the biggest upset in college football this season.

But to grow into the program Brown envisions, his team must learn to gain that edge every week. It’s a standard he’s working to instill as much as tackling techniques and scheming for opponents.

And considering Georgia Tech is 1-3 with some recent embarrassing losses, the players may need some nudging to get properly hyped up for this game. Human nature rearing its ugly head in football can get you beat, and Brown’s trying to avoid that.

“This is a critical week for us to grow up and see if we can respond to a game after we spend a lot of energy and passion with another one back-to-back…,” Brown said following Wednesday’s practice.

“That’s the big question mark for us this week. We’re talking about us, we’re talking about standard, the standard was set last week in practice. They did great, today I thought it was okay.”

And just okay has Brown concerned. He often speaks about the importance of player-led teams as opposed to coach-led teams, and this week is a classic example of that need. Sometimes, coaches’ voices simply aren’t heard as much as at other times during a season, so the greatest accountability can often come from within the locker room.

That said, Brown won’t hesitate using a variety of tactics to get his team’s collective minds right. So, Brown’s measure this week has been somewhat extreme, at least on the surface.

“What I told them is we’re going to grade this (Wednesday practice) video really hard today, and if you didn’t play well in this video, we’re not taking you to Atlanta,” he said. “That’s it. You either are playing hard or you’re not. You’re either playing good or you’re not. If you’re not, we don’t need any hamburger eaters, stay here.”

Hamburger eaters?

“Either you came to eat hamburgers and steak before the game or you came to play,” Brown explained. “We don’t need any hamburger eaters. We need players.

“The guys that really have energy and get excited about the game usually can’t eat pre-game meal. The ones that are along for the ride look around and see whose steak’s left so they can go eat some more steak.”

Brown is looking for guys that want to compete and win in Atlanta, period.

“If we take 45 to Atlanta and all 45 are trying, I’m in,” he said. “I don’t care.”

This is part of the process, as Brown has said many times, and in an odd way, that quest is being challenged more this week than last.