Ensuring Emotion in Important Lines: "it's game-day too"

I had a line of dialogue that heightens the stakes. As I’ve been talking about, my characters are about to talk with the star basketball player in the nation. One of my characters mentions how “It’s game day, too,” meaning look there’s Tony, hours before he plays in one of the biggest games of his career. The line is good, but I wasted it. When he said it, there’s no emotion behind it. If I would adjust where that’s written in the text, there could be fear behind that like when Dave leaves their table to say something to Tony. Or there could be awe behind it, like if Josh, my POV character, thinks it, such as “woah, look, he’s there eating his game-day meal, just hours before he’ll be on national TV.”

What’s important is to recognize these opportunities and make sure they don’t go to waste.