Setting the Stage: Jarmolowich Draws Attention, Praise

There may be a slight age gap, but at least Jake Jarmolowich had seen the movie his head coach was referencing. Considering 'All the Right Moves' hit theaters in 1983, it wasn't a given he had seen it or knew Tom Cruise was the lead character with a last name which was hard to pronounce.

In the flick, Cruise played a hard-nosed defensive back who often did things his own way, much to the chagrin of his coach, played by Craig T. Nelson. Jarmolowich does things his own way, too, but in a style which has meshed well with Tyson Summers defense.

A transfer from Holy Cross, Jarmolowich came in confident in himself and went after his assignments full force.

"It's kind of my approach to life," Jarmolowich said. "I don't really care what people think, I just try to do my thing, do my job my 111 (percent)."

So, when Jay Norvell yells out, "all the right moves," the graduate student knows it is him he's talking to and he's fine with it. Cruise did make the big play in the end, and Jarmolowich has done that all season.

He's third on the team with 20 tackles, but leads the unit with 5.0 tackles for loss, including a sack.

"I think you guys can see we're getting a lot of pressures from secondary players. Two of the biggest hits the last two games have come from pressure from corners or a safety," Norvell said. "Jake had one of those games; he had the big hit award. I just love his aggressiveness and his attack mentality as a safety, and he's going to continue to be productive in this system."

He's not the biggest guy in the CSU secondary, but he plays with his hair on fire. He's full bore all the time, and the system fits his style of play, even if he didn't realize as much. While he liked the team he played for and the system it ran, it had him stuck in the post most of the game.

These days, Summers might ask him to line up anywhere and rush from assorted angles.

Bring it on.

"It's the versatility of it. We do a lot," he said. "I always roll down to the box, have splits off the edge, inside cover, all of it. Just doing that and an offense not knowing where you are is the best part."

Well, almost. The best part is being able to be himself, be embraced for it and spend game days flying around with a purpose.

That, and doing it with likeminded people. His play suggests he's having more fun than anybody, but he's not sure if it is him, Owen Long or Lemondre Joe. Either way, it's a blast.

"Yeah, playing a violent sport with your buddies is a great time," he said. ""It's tough to have a bad day doing that, especially with a bunch of good guys around."

First-Hand Knowledge

Now that Jackson Brousseau has played a full game, his ability to relate actual plays to what's being talked about in meetings will only increase in the eyes of Norvell. Brousseau, too.

"Once a quarterback plays a game, he can see the things that he did well and the things that he needs to improve on. I think one of Jackson's strongest qualities is that he's a student of the game," Norvell said. "I mean, he really is hard on himself. He spends a lot of time with Matt (Mumme, the pass game coordinator) and Chase (Holbrook, quarterbacks coach) and Carson (Strong, assistant quarterbacks coach) as far as understanding the nuances of the secondary reactions, being able to get tells on guys.

"I just think he'll continue to get better. You know, he threw the ball at a high clip in his first start, made a lot of smart plays, checked when he had to, got us into some good plays, kept us out of some bad plays. We had a couple of sacks in the game. That was more of a protection issue than his issue. But I'm excited about Jackson. I think he's a leader. I think he can lead our football team, and I think we can make a lot of strides moving forward with him."

Prior to his start against Washington State, Brousseau had experienced a few live reps in just two games. It was experience, but limited. Practice is helpful, but an actual game, filled with heightened emotions, moves faster.

Now he's seen it for an extended time. Now he knows.

"I would say yes. I feel like you also have to remember you've played this game for so long and there's only so many things you can actually do in football, like there's only so many concepts," he said. "So, it's just kind of knocking the rust off a little and getting out there and kind of getting the feel for the timing of things and stuff like that and understanding players on your team more than anything else, know when guys are getting in and out of breaks.

"I feel good. I feel like I've kind of built a relationship with guys on the field and understand what routes guys like, where guys feel comfortable, and so just trying to get them in the best situations possible."

Here and There

Norvell said the team will be without linebacker Jacob Ellis and guard Tanner Morley this week. Tight end Jaxxon Warren is also likely to miss his third game. … In referencing being more consistent on offense, Norvell mentioned being cleaner with penalties. The Rams rank 125^th in penalties per game (8.3) and 117^th in penalty yards per game (72.3).

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