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Both played high school football in Germantown, Lefeged as a two-way star for Northwest, and Brooks as an anchor of Seneca Valley's stingy defense. Both were named to The All-Gazette first team, and both committed to college at Rutgers (N.J.) University.

Yet, while time has treated each player a little differently, they both hope that this is the year they keep the Scarlet Knights in the hunt for the Big East Conference title.

The Big Hitter

When Lefeged got to campus in Piscataway, N.J., it soon became clear he was not going to sit out a season getting used to the speed of college football. What was not immediately clear was how soon he would make an impact.

Last Oct. 13, though, it came into focus.

Lefeged, who had played significant minutes in the Scarlet Knights' defensive backfield as a reserve, lined up near the line of scrimmage against Syracuse and broke as soon as the ball was snapped. Flying past the offensive line before he could be picked up, Lefeged buried his helmet into the chest of quarterback Andrew Robinson, caused a fumble, and created the kind of play tailor-made for the highlight reel.

After finishing the game with two sacks, Lefeged was named Big East defensive player of the week, and at the end of the season, he was an honorable mention on the All-American Freshman Team by The Sporting News.

"I think everything kind of clicked in faster than I expected," he said. "The veterans on the team really helped me out, and helped me make the adjustment much easier."

Still, Lefeged, who played running back, quarterback and on defense in high school, had to adjust to the more complex defenses of head coach Greg Schiano, also the defensive coordinator at Rutgers. Going home and studying a playbook that was double the size of what he had in high school made the task all that much harder.

"The game speed, I mean it's faster here, but if you work hard enough, you get caught up," Lefeged said. "The plays were so much more complex and that took a little longer to get used to, but the coaches really helped me out. They put me in a position to succeed."

Because of that success, Lefeged goes into this season as someone opposing offensive coordinators will take into consideration when drawing up game plans. Like his first season, though, Lefeged just looks at it as another adjustment to make in his continual evolution.

"You always have to do a little extra at this level," he said. "You got to match the veterans and then do something a little more to get better. My goal for this year is to go out there and execute and do my best."

The Big Transition

While Lefeged was getting time on the field last season, Brooks, once a defensive player, was making an even bigger adjustment from the sidelines.

While a star linebacker at Seneca Valley, he rarely carried the ball on offense, playing running back behind All-Gazette first teamer Shawn Perry. Yet when Rutgers' coaches saw him play, they knew what they wanted him to do when he arrived on campus.

Brooks was turned into a running back and redshirted last year, playing with the scout team during the week and watching on the weekends.

"They told me that they thought that I could come in and be that big bruising back, like Brian Leonard was in the past," Brooks said. "Being on the scout team was a great experience, because the game feels different in college, and it took me a while to get used to it. So far, this transition has been pretty good."

At 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Brooks is an intriguing candidate to take over for Ray Rice, who left the Scarlet Knights a year early to enter the NFL Draft and was taken by the Baltimore Ravens in the second round. Schiano told the Newark Star-Ledger that Brooks was a viable option because of his size.

"The thing that is kind of neat is that Jourdan gives us a different kind of back in the mix," Schiano said. "If he can continue to develop, regardless of who is getting the lion's share — if it's him or someone else — I think there is going to be a place for that big back."

Brooks took advantage of his time in practice last year, working out with Rice on the nuances of his new position. Yet, in practices last spring and even this fall, an ability to hang on to the ball has dogged him.

The competition to start is wide open between Brooks, junior Kordell Young and sophomores Mason Robinson and Joe Martinek. Whoever gets the nod to start will be backed up by an able trio, in what many observers feel could be one of the best offensive seasons in Rutgers' recent history.

"The coaches see that I can help the offense as a power back, but we have a lot of guys who can step in and do the job," Brooks said. "We have a goal of being the best rushing attack in the nation."