How Matthew McConaughey's Speech to Texas Longhorns Matched His Movie Roles

— -- When Matthew McConaughey surprised the University of Texas Longhorns’ football team at a practice last month, it was just like a scene from one of his movies.

McConaughey, a University of Texas alumni, visited the team Sept. 25, nearly a week after they suffered a shattering 3-point loss to No. 12-ranked UCLA.

The Oscar winner started his pep talk by reacting to the Longhorn players thumping their fists on their chests, a move previously done by McConaughey’s character in “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

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"Ya’ll like that, huh?," McConaughey said at the practice, video of which was posted to YouTube by the university.

The actor then got inspirational, in the mode of his “We Are Marshall” character, head coach Jack Lengyel, who rebuilds his team after a devastating plane crash.

“At the end of the day, every single one of you only needs to be playing for one person,” McConaughey told the Longhorns.

He asked the players more philosophical questions, taking on the aura of his character in the HBO show “True Detective.”

“Last night, I was thinking what I do and I was thinking about what you all do and I was asking myself this question all the time: Why do I do what I do? Why am I an actor? And I’m going to ask ya’ll: Why do you play football?,” McConaughey said.

When it came time to pump the players up, McConaughey looked to his role in the film “Tropic Thunder.”

“When you do well, you feel it and you can look in the mirror and say, ‘That’s right. I earned that,’” McConaughey said.

The actor finished his speech as it started -- with the “The Wolf of Wall Street” chest bump and chant -- and left the players with a final few words.

“It feels a whole lot better with a W than it does after an L,’” he said.

Two days after McConaughey’s speech, the Longhorns defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 23-0.