USD FOOTBALL: Trujillo latest discovery in arms race

JC transfer looks to continue Toreros' success at QB position

By TOM SHANAHAN - For the North County Times | Wednesday, August 27, 2008 6:13 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- Three years ago, Josh Johnson followed in the footsteps of Todd Mortensen as the University of San Diego's starting quarterback.

At the time, Johnson had big shoes to fill. Mortensen, a transfer from Brigham Young, was talented enough to sign a free-agent contract with the Detroit Lions for their 2005 training camp.

Johnson, though, surpassed Mortensen. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers drafted the three-time offensive player of the year in the Pioneer Football League in the fifth round in April.

Now comes Sebastian Trujillo, USD's starter for the 2008 season opener Friday night against Marist College at Torero Stadium.

Can the junior college transfer from Saddleback College one-up Johnson?

"I haven't thought about it that way," Trujillo said with a laugh. "I'm just focused on Marist. I don't want to get ahead of myself."

No one expects Trujillo to top Johnson, of course, but you could say he's already ahead of himself by earning the starting job for the opener.

He entered fall camp as the No. 3 quarterback behind junior Andrew Rolin, last year's backup to Johnson, and senior Ben Hannula. But Trujillo began receiving more repetitions than anticipated when Rolin suffered a stress fracture in his back during the first week of camp. Rolin will undergo further examinations with a specialist in Los Angeles before it's determined whether he can return to the field later this season.

That left the competition between Trujillo and Hannula, who switched back to his high school position after earning second-team All-PFL honors as a safety in 2007.

"It was a tough decision, but we felt Sebastian gives us the best chance to be successful," USD coach Ron Caragher said. "We weren't expecting him to learn the offense so soon; it's a difficult offense to understand. But he worked hard and did a nice job."

Hannula, a senior who asked Caragher if he could return to offense during spring drills, is listed as the No. 2 quarterback, but the Toreros plan to put him on the field in other roles.

Although Trujillo arrived at USD from Durango, Colo., by way of Saddleback, he knew a lot about Johnson and USD football. As a senior in high school, he was recruited by former USD coach Jim Harbaugh, now the head man at Stanford.

USD is a non-scholarship school in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), but Trujillo said he was offered scholarships by North Dakota State ---- a FCS power ---- and other FCS scholarship programs. He turned down scholarships from colder climates, though, to take the California junior college route. He also considered Palomar College before picking Saddleback.

As a freshman at Saddleback, he backed up Nick Nelson, now a senior at Colorado. As a sophomore last year, he began the season splitting time with Brian Shrock before finishing as the starter.

"We were really impressed with his recruiting tape," Caragher said. "He's big, strong, very athletic and can run the football."

Trujillo wasn't on campus for spring drills, but he began studying the playbook and film in early July.

"I love the school, and I love the West Coast offense," Trujillo said. "I watched a lot of what Josh Johnson did here, and what he does is take the pressure off himself by making the right reads. That's what I hope to do here, too."