Jurich, who was suspended with pay Wednesday by interim President Greg Postel, was not at Saturday's game.

"I can't say enough about what he has meant to me and my family," Petrino said. "Besides being my boss he is a real close friend. So we are hoping he'll be back."

Petrino was asked when was the last time he spoke with Jurich.

"I spoke to him the morning that he went over there," Petrino said. "I talked to him right after that."

Petrino was asked if Jurich isn't brought back from suspension if that would affect his status with the Cardinals going forward.

"I haven't thought about that at all," Petrino said. "What I'm focused on is our football team. I love our football team. I love the University, I love the city of Louisville. We made plans to stay here and spend the rest of our career here so right now we just have to focus on this game Thursday night and get ready for that."

Here is the full video of Bobby Petrino's post-game comments...