Team captain John W. Adams and a co-captain sought a counter-cheer, one that would have "a characteristic Minnesota flavor."
[1]: 233 Adams incorrectly interpreted that phrase as the Dakota word for victory, or exultation, and suggested it as a cheer for the university rugby team.
It is currently used on the football team's helmets and jerseys,[3] as the name of a meeting room at the McNamara Alumni Center, a campus tailgate lot/parking lot near Huntington Bank Stadium, and as the title of a yearbook-style publication put out by the Minnesota Daily.
Ski Yu Mah Lounge was a Prohibition-era speakeasy near the campus, where players and other locals gathered after games.
The Gopher football team was prominent during the Prohibition era, and the use of the phrase in the school rouser is said to be a holdover in commemoration of the lounge and the time period.