Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer is out to impress the NFL decision makers this week in Mobile, Ala.

It's been an unbelievable year. We started off slow at USC this season, losing early games at Kansas State and at Washington State, but we started to gain some momentum midway through the season and never looked back from there. When we played really well against some high-profile teams, like UCLA and Notre Dame, at the end of the year, we got a lot of respect from around the country. It kept rolling through our Orange Bowl win over Iowa.

The Heisman situation was a lot of fun too -- especially since I was able to share the experience with my family. I didn't get a chance to get out and see the city and do all the cool things that are in New York, but just being there and being in the atmosphere around the holidays was great. It was incredible meeting great past winners of the Heisman, like Earl Campbell and Archie Griffin. It made me real uncomfortable being surrounded by such greatness. I felt out of place. I didn't feel like I was really part of that yet. Just to be able to meet them and hang out with them for a while was quite a highlight.

I really didn't start thinking about the NFL draft and the Senior Bowl until after the Orange Bowl. We got back from Miami on Jan. 3 or 4, so after taking a few days off, I had less than a week to get ready.

Showing up at the Senior Bowl was never really a question for me. I was going to play in Mobile right from the moment I received the invitation. It's a great opportunity to come out and compete against the best guys in the country and see how you stack up against them. I'm happy I made the decision to come.

I hope to have a good time, meet a bunch of new guys and get a taste of the NFL this week. I'll have the chance to learn a little bit about an NFL offense and defense too.

My agent, David Dunn, gave me the heads up on the Senior Bowl week. He let me know that it was not a week about having fun, but about business. There would be no free time, no time for naps. It's going from one thing to the next. And that won't stop. David didn't sugar coat anything. He let me know things wouldn't slow down from here through the draft.

When I arrived on Saturday, not many people were around.Things were kind of relaxed and I thought it might not be as bad as everyone said it would be. But by the next morning, the lobby was crawling with people. In fact, there are more males here than I've ever been around in my life. It seems like there are no women here.

Until I got to Mobile, I didn't really realize what was going on with everything happening so fast and bouncing around so much. But David was right; it hasn't slow down since Sunday. You start meeting people -- so many people -- taking tests and doing interviews. It's crazy. It's definitely one of the craziest weeks of my life. But it's good. It's just one of those things you have to do and have to get through.

David and I also talked about the questions NFL teams would be asking me -- about my past, this season and other things. I felt a little bit prepared.

Everyone talks about how the practice is so important, but there are so many other things going on that you can't even think about practice. You're meeting with people, trying to learn an offense, meeting new coaches and answering questions. And some of those questions are so silly. There are questions on the test like "Do you ever think of killing yourself" or "Are you a dog or a cat?" It's crazy. All the questions you could think of to ask someone -- and some you wouldn't -- are on there.

I talked to a whole bunch of teams on Monday -- the Bengals, Bears, Chiefs, Dolphins and a couple of others. Even though many of the team representatives have jackets on, it becomes a blur at some point.

The meetings start as a friendly chit chat and then they start grilling you about your past. It's real uncomfortable because you have to talk about yourself. I don't think many guys are used to that. Coaches, GMs, scouts and a bunch of other guys you don't know are all gathered around you in a hotel room. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to ask them questions too, I haven't yet. Whatever they want to know, I let them know.

I'm working with coach Marty Mornhinweg and the Detroit Lions staff on the South squad, and I have to say this team is loaded. We have two other great QBs, Chris Simms and Kliff Kingsbury, and the receivers and O-Line is great too. It's so unbelievable to be around all this talent. If someone would draft the entire South team, I think we'd eventually win a Super Bowl. It's hard to believe I could play on a team this good again. It's fun playing with guys that you've followed through college -- some you've rooted for and others you've rooted against. The quarterback coach, Kevin Higgins, is awesome. I hope I'm lucky enough to have a coach like him.

It's good to go through this though. All these guys going through this process will mature and learn a lot about themselves. Hopefully, the teams will learn a lot about us too.

Editor's note: USC QB Carson Palmer is keeping a diary for ESPN.com during Senior Bowl week.