Florida State football began preparations for its week four matchup with Cal on Tuesday morning.

The Seminoles (0-3) welcome the Golden Bears (3-0) to Doak Campbell Stadium on Saturday for the first meeting between the schools and Cal's first ACC game. Coming off a 20-12 defeat to Memphis, FSU has lost three games straight as the team's season quickly turned into one head coach Mike Norvell didn't expect to be in.

"We got into a situation that nobody wants to be in," Norvell said. "That's pretty evident. But we still all have desires of who want to be and what we want it to look like. So we get to make the choice of that. If we are just driven by circumstance and when it's all good now we want to work hard, that's not right."

"We got knocked on our butt three times, we haven't played good, and we haven't done the thing necessary. But we got the opportunity for today."

Here are four takeaways from FSU's practice Tuesday morning.

Some up and down moments in "high emotions" practice

While it was a solid day of practice for the Seminoles, there were some up-and-down moments on Tuesday. It was firey in moments, but the energy was high.

There were plays like the one where freshman Luke Kromenhoek connected on a downfield pass to Micahi Danzy for a touchdown, drawing a celebratory reaction from the team. However, some moments of miscommunication or poor decision-making were present, which Norvell said was the result of an emotional practice.

"I thought the guys came out with great energy and some good competitive work. There were high emotions as we went into it, which I'm hopeful to see," Norvell said. "We continue to work on the control in those situations. I saw some guys that in the earlier part of practice lost control of a reaction and response. But to see them finish the way that they did, it was definitely a positive step."

There was a strong finish to the day, with the final period of team activities bringing out some good work from both sides of the football. However, moments of indecision and some questionable plays were sprinkled in, which was the nature of the day.

The question still remains, however, can the Seminoles translate any sort of practice success to gamedays?

DJ Uiagalelei, Brock Glenn both have a solid day

All eyes are on the quarterback for the Seminoles following the early season struggles for DJ Uiagalelei.

Beginning Cal week preparations, Uiagalelei and backup Brock Glenn both had a solid showing during Tuesday's practice.

Glenn came out of the gates hot, leading a touchdown drive in the first instance of team activities, but leveled out throughout practice. Uiagalelei started with an interception in team practices but remained consistent for the rest of the day as he made some good throws.

There were still moments of hesitance from Uiagalelei in some of his reads. Those moments allowed the defense to be a step closer to the receivers once the ball found its way to its intended target, leading to a few incompletions. He had some strong moments later in the day, finding tight end Kyle Morlock for a long gain near the sidelines, he then had a couple of nice throws to Hykeem Williams and threw a touchdown to Ja'Khi Douglas in redzone work.

Glenn made some good throws in one-on-one drills, placing some balls in good spots for the receivers to get while being covered tightly by defensive backs. He made a nice throw to Douglas in those drills and had a strong, well-placed throw down the field to Brian Courtney in team activities.

Glenn still had some moments you don't want to see, throwing a downfield interception into double coverage, and he missed on a few throws you'd like to see him convert. Still, overall it was a solid day for him and Uiagalelei.

Young linebackers impress

Blake Nichelson and Justin Cryer have been two of the rare bright spots for the Seminoles, with the pair of sophomores making an impact during Tuesday's practice.

Cryer seems to have carried the momentum over from his performance against Memphis, where he recorded an interception and five tackles. He moved through drills with good speed and efficiency and didn't look out of place when in coverage.

Nichelson had a moment in one-on-ones where he tracked running back Lawrance Toafili well in coverage and ended up grabbing an interception. He was strong in team activities and drills and, like Cryer, ran them with an energy you like to see from a young player.

In a room seeking improvement, the continued development of Cryer and Nichelson will be important.

A player-led leadership presence was felt

There was a strong presence felt from redshirt senior offensive lineman Jeremiah Byers on Tuesday. He was extremely vocal and held players accountable during reps and team activities.

The Seminoles have been looking for a leader to step up amid the 0-3 start, and Norvell feels Byers is answering the call, despite missing the last two games. He said Byers's presence was felt during Tuesday's practice.

"I've been really impressed with him. When you talk about leadership, you want to see who really cares beyond just themselves," Norvell said. "It's been unfortunate with JB being out the last couple of games, but if you want to see something impressive, go back and watch him on the sidelines. He's had a leg injury and not one time have I seen him sit down on the bench. He's been active, he's been up and down the sideline encouraging, challenging, and pushing."

"That's what a leader is. He couldn't do anything physically to be able to help us, but he's trying to bring everything he has. He was very active today in practice, you hear him, you feel him and you see him."

How to watch FSU football vs. Cal 2024

• Date: Saturday, Sep. 21

• Time: 7 p.m.

• Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

• TV: ESPN2

• Streaming: ESPN+ ($10.99 per month), WatchESPN and the ESPN app (TV provider subscription needed), fuboTV (7-day free trial), YouTube TV (2-week free trial), Hulu + Live TV (7-day free trial)

Liam Rooney covers Florida State athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at LRooney@gannett.com or on Twitter @__liamrooney

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FSU football practice: QB DJ Uiagalelei, Brock Glenn both look good