Before each football game, Keith Moore stands in the locker room — red cape on his back, Maryland flag sneakers on his feet, jersey with No. 99 emblazoned on his chest — and prays.

“Let the players enter the game happy and exit the game healthy.”

Then, with “turtleflies” in his stomach, Moore leads the players onto the field to the cheers of about 30,000 screaming fans.

For 14 years, Moore has led a double life. During the week, he’s a professional speaker, consultant and promoter who’s earned millions at Moore Motivation Inc. On Saturdays, he trades in his business suit for Terrapins gear and morphs into Special K, a motivational mascot that has become a Byrd Stadium sideline staple.

Known for running around leading the “Keys, please” chant, Moore has an explosive energy that has been influential from the start. In 1987, as a freshman, he worked as the cheerleading squad’s “microphone man.” During the first game in his new position, Moore got so overexcited that he started chanting T-R-E-P-S instead of T-E-R-P-S. The entire student section ended up spelling out “Treps” along with him.

“For a while people would see me around campus and say, ‘Hey, Treps, how’s it going?’” he said.

Nowadays, whenever Moore is on the campus, he’s greeted with smiles, a never-ending supply of fists to bump and the enthusiastic yells of “What time is it?” to which he responds: “GAME TIME.”

[ READ MORE: Keith Moore: “Special K” ]

Seeing Moore on the sidelines instantly transports junior Ben Kramer back to the early 2000s, when Kramer and his brother would come to spring football games with their dad and yell out Special K’s name at the edge of the stands.

“When I was a little kid, Special K threw my brother and I a football while we stood in the stands. It was such a small thing, but so amazing,” said Kramer, a government and politics major. “To see him now brings back so many memories. His passion for Maryland football is so contagious.”

Moore’s background as a motivational speaker is evident in his everyday speech — he even managed to put a positive spin on last week’s devastating 63-0 defeat delivered by Florida State.

“To me, it was a reminder of how far this program has come,” Moore said. “You had to go back 20 years to 1993, when Maryland lost to Penn State 70-7, to find a defeat of that proportion. But that game is over, and there’s no need to think about it, because we’ll never play them ever again.”

Moore is confident Saturday’s border battle against University of Virginia will be different.

“The UVA game is a big one. We don’t like them. They don’t like us,” Moore said. “We’re moving to the Big Ten, and we’re leaving them behind, so we need to clearly send them a message: We. Are. Maryland. And boy, oh boy, am I fired up.”

In 1999, the first year Moore officially started working as Special K, the Terps were up against the Cavaliers. With a 5-5 record, the Terps needed a win to gain bowl eligibility. They were in the lead until the last 26 seconds of the game, when the Cavaliers scored. Final score: 34-30, Cavaliers.

But what sticks out to Moore isn’t the loss. It’s the fact that LaMont Jordan ran more than 300 yards that game.

“We lost, but we lost with pride, dignity and passion. That’s what I will remember when we play Virginia this Saturday,” Moore said. “Let the chips fall where they may, because as long as you leave it all on the field, that’s all that matters.”

Moore looks forward to the pregame events where he tosses a football around with students and hangs out with the fans. He’s working to extend the postgame aspect by throwing out signed footballs after the alma mater.

“The team works so hard for four hours, play after play after play,” he said. “When the boys run over to sing, they want to see the fans. This is the chance for students to show their appreciation. Hopefully by throwing a nice signature ball up at the end of the game, it’ll inspire kids to stay.”

In preparation for games, Moore picks out signs from his extensive collection and goes over his notes about what cheers worked and what cheers didn’t at previous matches. He also lifts weights and does cardio three to five times a week so he’s physically fit enough to keep up with the players when they storm the field.

Moore aims for “sideline synergy” — harnessing the energy of the cheerleaders, dancers and marching band.

“At my first game as a cheerleader, I was so confused about who this crazy guy was running around,” said Arielle Iola, a freshman kinesiology major. “But now I love him. He has a very positive outlook, and he gets us even more excited and makes us want to cheer even louder.”

Moore isn’t sure what the future of Special K holds. His book, Keys, Please! 60 ACC Memories from America’s Motivational Mascot, will be released in December. Twelve percent of the $12 book — an allusion to “the 12th Terp,” another of his pseudonyms — will be donated to the university.

“You build a bank account on what you get, but you will build a legacy on what you give,” Moore said. “I hope and pray the spirit I’ve brought here will live forever. They give out 10,000 student tickets each game, and I hope there are 10,000 Special K spirits that show up long after I have departed.”