The one, among others, sent off to measure the depth and dimension of his enthusiasm for what is to come for - in spite of what in recent seasons has gone on with - Brigham Young football.

"Ahhh, come on," he said, chortling away, then turning more and more serious as each sequential syllable was spoken. "You know me. You know how I am. I'm having fun. This is part of who I am. It's something I was born with. I love a challenge. I'm a challenge seeker."

The challenge seeker finds himself, then, crawling this season from the burning wreckage of a head-on pileup on his own personal county two-lane.

The challenge has sought him, crossing double-yellow lines, not the other way around.

BYU football hasn't been what it was supposed to be when he committed to play for the Cougars in the late 1990s and when he returned from an LDS Church mission in January 2001. Since winning 12 straight games to start his freshman season, Poppinga's teams have skidded badly, losing 17 of their last 26, suffering the worst stretch of football at BYU in more than 30 years.

As a pall of gloom successively stacked up week by week through each of the past two cold, dark autumns, the all-conference defensive end has been one source of outlandish optimism and ridiculous zeal.

He has suffered amid the losing, but eagerly and maniacally plowed on in the face of it. He led the Mountain West in sacks as a sophomore. Last year, he got 55 tackles, all while the beams were cracking, the roof was collapsing, and teammates were bailing.

That last part was a kick in the teeth to Poppinga because, after the 5-7 debacle in 2002, it was the single thing he hoped to avoid in 2003.

Partway through last season, he said: "It's bad when guys care only about themselves, when they want to look good to impress people. Last year, you would hear stuff from players like, 'Hey, you're ruining my career.' There was a lot of finger pointing because of the losing. Some of the so-called leaders didn't recognize the problem. Some of them just wanted to be 'The Guy.'

"As I started to contribute, I still held back. I didn't say much. The camaraderie wasn't that good. Even in 2001, there was a division between the offense and the defense. There was too much hate in the air in scrimmages and at practice. Guys weren't trying to make each other better.

"I wanted that to change this year. This is a team, after all. That's the real nature of competition. Trying to improve your athletic performance and the performance of the people around you. Play as hard as you can. But I want the other guy to be good, too. [Against Georgia Tech], the opponent I was going against on some plays wasn't going hard. I said to him, 'Come on, let's go.' That's the way I want it. It's a positive thing for everybody.

"The only way we were going to be good [in 2003] was to come together and play as a team."

For reasons too vast to list here, that did not happen. The Cougars dropped to 4-8.

Poppinga languished, but he kept his spirits afloat.

His teammates complimented his relentless aggression at practice and in games.

"The man's an animal," said tight end Daniel Coats. "An absolute animal. He's like a pro wrestler on the field, always creating havoc. The guy is way into football. He could be one of the top rush ends in the country."

He was, a year ago.

Even opposing coaches continue to say as much.

"That kid's a great player," said Utah defensive coordinator Kyle Whittingham last week. "He's a great, great rush end. And rush ends, along with cover corners, are the most important positions on a defense."

Problem is, the 6-foot-3, 260-pound lineman may be forced out of that position, back to linebacker, where he played as a freshman, because of injuries to BYU's linebacker corps.

"I probably will play equal parts at end and linebacker," Poppinga said. "Doesn't matter to me. I'm just happy to be caught up in it, happy to be out there."

He is out there.

Way out.

Although he is married and has a baby daughter, although he is self-assured, measured and mature in so many settings, the 24-year-old senior is a madman on the field. He once drilled former Air Force quarterback Chance Harridge on a goal-line play, drawing a 15-yard penalty, just because he felt like it. On the other hand, his energy is what makes him. He would sooner disembowel himself than quit.

Just as Coats described, Poppinga, who grew up in Evanston, Wyo., has a bit of Hulk Hogan in him. He can be clowning around one minute, then, the next, his mood shifts into another gear, whereby his expression intensifies, his voice booms, his brow bends . . .

This is a whole new season. Get everybody to buy into that and, well, now, then, football is a beautiful piece of art. We're going to be ready for Notre Dame, we're going to be firing on all cylinders. I just want to go out and not think. I just want to clear my mind and go on instinct. Ooooooohhhh.

Answering the cliche, yes, Poppinga is ready for some football.

Ready to crawl out from under that burning heap.

He thinks his teammates in 2004 are, too.

"It's us, we've taken ownership of this team," he said. "The talent's there, we just need the confidence back. That comes from hard work. If you feel like you've prepared, that you've worked harder than your competition, it makes you feel like you've paid the price. You know the consequence is success. We expect to win. It's our team. We've got to choose whether we want to be good. I love what I'm seeing. We'll see if I have the right feeling or not.

"Most of the guys who are going to be playing will play to the death. That's what makes football so much fun - a bunch of guys from different places and backgrounds coming together, doing their jobs. I get so excited, it makes me laugh just thinking about it. I love football. Man, it's fun."

Up next

BYU vs. Notre Dame

at LaVell Edwards Stadium

7:15 p.m., Saturday, ESPN,

KSL-AM 1160

Poppinga file

Selected as a candidate for the 2004 Bronko

Nagurski Award

Twice named to the All-Mountain West Conference first

team

Recorded 55 total tackles last year

Led MWC with eight sacks as a sophomore

All-state selection at

linebacker and tight end for Evanston, Wyo., High