SALINAS, Calif. ― The time has almost arrived for 2004 World Champion Mike Lee to attempt to become just the fourth rider all time to make the 8-second mark aboard two-time World Champion Bull Bushwacker.

Prior to Mike Lee’s showdown with Bushwacker on Wednesday night at the Salinas, California, Touring Pro Division event, PBR.com chatted with PBR Director of Livestock Cody Lambert, Julio Moreno, PBR LIVE color commentator Brendon Clark, world leader Guilherme Marchi and Lee to talk about Bushwacker and how his final season on the Built Ford Tough Series has been shaping up.

Fans can sign up to watch the Salinas TPD event on PBR LIVE here.

Here are highlights from those conversations:

JF: Bushwacker was a perfect 8-0 in the first half of the Built Ford Tough Series, and he even bucked off J.W. Harris earlier this summer in Bismarck, North Dakota, but he is being marked an average 45.78 points, his lowest average since 2010. What have been some of your impressions of the World Champion Bull contender this year?

LAMBERT: “Bushwacker came ready to go and J.B. (Mauney) got on him in Oklahoma City and he was as rank as ever. Then he continued to throw guys off in a couple of jumps all year long. He is still extremely hard to ride, but he is not having those special outs where he is as explosive until they ride him a jump or two. He is just doing whatever it takes to buck them off and he has a lot more and we may not see it.”

JF: That seemed like the case in Bismarck, North Dakota, when he faced Harris.

LAMBERT: “He is so hard to ride. J.W. was trying to ride him, but he had him bucked off pretty good. Same thing with Guilherme (Marchi) at the Last Cowboy Standing. They are World Champion-caliber guys putting out the effort, but Bushwacker is almost going through the motions and getting them on the ground.”

MORENO: “I watched it four mornings in a row at home drinking a cup of coffee before I went out. I was really watching it because J.W. really rides forward, the way kind of J.B. does. It looked like Bushwacker went out there one, two and he was hitting on that two. He kind of gave a fake with the right and (in) slow motion (it) shows his head coming to the right, and J.W. was up there in good position, and when he did that and turned back, his feet kicked loose and his hand hold came out before he was turning and he was off of him. I just kept breaking it down in slow motion.”

CLARK: “I feel J.W. tried the best he could and did what he needed to do, but it just wasn’t good enough on the day. It wasn’t the right thing on the day. And you can question is it ever the right thing on that day. Bushwacker has turned into such a smart animal that he knows how to get people off his back.”

JF: He is doing it against some of the best in the PBR, too.

CLARK: “You have to give it to a bull like that because he only gets the best bull riders in the world on his back. It is not like he is just getting anyone on his back; it is the best ones there are. Even some of the best bull riders in the world can’t ride him past two seconds.”

MARCHI: “Some bulls we know what they going to do, but when I got on him I thought he was going to the right and he faked to the right and he moved forward. You never know what he does when he bucks, every trip is kind of different. He is the best bull in the world for sure.”

JF: Guilherme, what do you remember about Last Cowboy Standing and Bushwacker? Julio has stated before that he thought you were part of a select group of riders that could potentially ride him.

MARCHI: “I remember when I got him at the last event he is so big, his back is wide. I try to keep my legs down and cover his front because what happens is when he comes up, you need to stay on the front to go with him. I tried to stay with his timing, but when he hit the ground I lost my position on the front. It opened my legs.”

JF: It doesn’t seem like anyone this year has been able to truly challenge or test him yet – no one has made it past the 5-second mark. 

LAMBERT: “At least half of the guys that have been on him this year haven’t really tried really hard. They were beat before they nodded their head. On those kind of outs, those are the ones that will make a bull almost lazy because it doesn’t require him to put out any effort. That is what Bushwacker has been doing nearly all year.”

CLARK: “There are definitely some bull riders out there that don’t want to get on Bushwacker. I feel like some of the best bull riders in the world at events smartly pick around him because you know your chances are smaller. I have done it before. You just know.”

LAMBERT: “Now, he is not even thinking about turning back until somebody warms up. The last time somebody warmed him up was when Nathan (Schaper) had him at Anaheim and he came out with that level of intensity. When Nathan came around the turn and he jumped out of the spin and changed things up and he picked it up several notches.”

JF: Bushwacker has had some of his rankest trips during his career once he turned back.

MORENO: “I want somebody to try to ride him, but I really want him to make that turn he makes, whether it is right or left, and stay on him at least five or six seconds, because I really think Bushwacker still has a good finish. I think he will really, really fire.”

JF: Mike, you’ve said before that getting to that turn back will be one of the many things you will have to do on Wednesday night. 

LEE: “It is just about staying with those long jumps and you have to stay close to your rope. Don’t overload and just stay calm and be simple for a minute. Hopefully he turns back on you and makes it a little easier on you.”

RELATED: Mike Lee to face Bushwacker in special bonus round

JF: What can Bushwacker do to try and improve his markings? Does he need to just be tested by some of the best?

LAMBERT: “You can’t make the greatest bull in the world who is winning every match in a couple of seconds buck harder. It would be silly to even try. You just have to let it play out and see what happens. I think if J.W. Harris or Guilherme get on him again, he will put out the same kind of effort, but I think they will come closer to riding him. They might even ride him. You will see what Bushwacker has got because he is a competitor. Those guys are, too. I think if J.B. Mauney, Guilherme Marchi, or J.W. Harris draw Bushwacker, then he will get the highest score of any bull out there because he is going to have to bring that superior effort to buck those guys off. Those guys have been on him and they want to ride him.”

JF: It seems like one of the common traits of the top bull riders in the PBR is that they all have a strong mental fortitude to them. Is that a necessary trait to have when attempting Bushwacker?

MORENO: “There are half a dozen guys that really in their mind think they can ride him. I think you need to have that attitude when you get on a bull like Bushwacker. You have to be able to say, ‘I am going in there and I know I can ride him and do my best.’ They have to have that kind of cockiness or whatever you want to call it to be able to say they can ride him.”

JF: What do you remember from your past attempts on Bushwacker? 

LEE: “He has really long jumps. Most bulls at three seconds, they have probably made five or six jumps and he has made probably two. They are just big, long and heavy.”

MARCHI: “You know he is a famous bull and he is so hard to ride. He is so strong in the front and he gets a lot of air kicking. It is so amazing. This bull is unbelievable. He is a different kind of bull. He is so long. He has a lot of power. He has a lot of action. He is still in good shape and looks like he is a 4-year-old. He is looking great. You see his muscles in his back.”

RELATED: Julio Moreno excited to bring prized possession to Salinas 

CLARK: “I was certainly lucky enough to get on him one time and he is an amazing bull. You just never know what he is going to do. You never know what kind of trip he is going to have and you just know he is going to be super rank no matter what he does.”

JF: How excited are you, Mike, for Wednesday night? You have wanted another shot at Bushwacker for a while now.

LEE: “I have wanted to get on him for a long time and way before this. It takes guts to actually step up and ask to get on him if you can. I am at the point in my life where being brave or conservative don’t matter anymore. It is all about just living life in the moment and living it for the best I can.

“I am sure he is just a bull, but he is one of the greatest bulls.”

Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko.