OAKLAND — It was an emotionally-charged and excited locker room when Lane Kiffin addressed his team following the Raiders’ 26-24 win over Cleveland Sunday at McAfee Coliseum.

Holding a football, Kiffin didn’t single out one or two players.

“Here’s the game ball,” Kiffin said. “Who do you think this is going to?”

The first-year head coach could have given it to defensive end Tommy Kelly, who blocked Phil Dawson’s 40-yard field goal attempt as time ran out to secure Oakland’s first win of the 2007 NFL season.

Kiffin could have given it to running back LaMont Jordan, who ran for 121 yards on 29 carries with a 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Sebastian Janikowski had a big game as well, kicking four field goals.

Outside linebacker Thomas Howard would have qualified, as he had five tackles, three assisted stops, an interception and a pass defensed. Also in the mix was quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who came in for the injured Josh McCown and played the entire second half, completing 8 of 14 passes for 118 yards.

“We don’t hand out individual game balls,” Kiffin said later.

Kiffin still had a reward for the team, however, saying a game ball is “going to everybody in that room.” The victory broke an 11-game losing streak for Oakland, which hadn’t won since last Oct. 29.

Middle linebacker Kirk Morrison also arrived in the locker room with a football. Morrison, who had a very good game with four total tackles, an interception and two passes defensed, spoke on behalf of the players.

“Last week we were robbed, coach. This one was for you,” Morrison said, as he gave a game ball to Kiffin in recognition of his first regular season win.

“I was pretty excited about that, because people don’t see the time and effort that he puts in,” said Morrison. “He keeps preaching to us and we’re competing for him, because he’s got this team where he wants. We want to keep going out and keep getting better week in and week out.

“One thing that I always keep taking from his meetings is that it’s never about what they do, it’s about what we do.”

Cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha, who had four total stops, talked about a respect factor.

“We knew that (Kiffin) needed this win just as much as we did, so we gave him the ball,” Asomugha said. “He knows that we can win games. We just have to continue to play well each week and not look too far into the future. It can definitely give us momentum.”

The Raiders turned the ball over twice, both on fumbles, and they allowed Cleveland to drive from its own 9-yard line to the Oakland 22 to set up for a game-winning field goal try with just three seconds to go. The Raiders had trouble producing and getting their offense going in the red zone, as they had first-and-goal situations twice in the first half, only to come away with short-distance field goals by Janikowski.

This time, though, the Silver and Black came away as winners. One week after losing a heartbreaker to Denver in the Mile High city, the Raiders finally had something to celebrate and smile about. The past is the past was a prevailing theme after Sunday’s game, with the Raiders — who lost their last nine games of the season last year — preferring to savor a win and think about getting ready for the challenge and journey that comes with a long season. Their road began in July at summer training camp in Napa, with Kiffin and his staff putting in a new system and philosophy.

“To finally pull one out like we did tonight, it does a lot for our confidence — finally seeing the hard work that we’ve been doing pay off,” said outside linebacker Sam Williams. “Now we know what it feels like to win, so we’re going to try to keep it rolling. It’s a long season and we needed to get the first one out of the way.”

All in all, the outcome was a huge relief for the Raiders, said Kiffin, whose team was in front 16-0 at one point in the first half and came back from a 17-16 deficit with 9:16 to go in the third quarter.

“It helps your team and it helps with what you’re selling all along,” he said.

The defense was rock solid for Oakland last year, ranking No. 3 in the league. Now the offense is starting to show signs of life. There’s a balanced look to the running and passing game.

“Wins always make your psyche better,” said Howard. “It’s a little easier to go to practice the next week. Coach’s whole big thing is team effort. No matter what situation the offense is in, they always go out there and give it their all. The defense is the same thing. We play big on all sides of the ball, no matter what. We’re just going to continue to go hard at work.”

The Raiders showed very good character and resolve bouncing back from the loss to the Broncos. It can serve as a building block and perhaps a turning point for Oakland, which goes to Miami Sept. 30 for a 10 a.m. game.

“We’ve got to get better week in and week out,” said Morrison. “We just need to go out and keep winning. It doesn’t matter how we do it. It doesn’t matter how they come as long as we just keep piling them up.”

Free safety Stuart Schweigert, who had two tackles, said: “It just helps, because we get to reap some rewards of our hard work. It just shows that you have to just keep putting in that time, that it’s going to pay off.”

Before I left the locker room and headed back to the elevator on the way to the press box in the late afternoon, I spoke with Williams about the passing out of game balls in what was a joyous celebration.

“We’re all in this together,” he said. “We have (Kiffin’s) back and he has our back. It showed after the game. He’s a very emotional person. We feed off his energy. He feels for us. He knows how bad we wanted it. And he wanted it just as bad as we did.”

E-mail Executive Sports Editor Marty James at mjames@napanews.com or call 256-2223.