LB rivals go way back

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Nov. 6, 2003 | 10:27 a.m.

San Diego State junior linebacker Kirk Morrison comes into Saturday's game against UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium leading the Mountain West Conference in tackles with 94.

Hot on his heels, however, is UNLV linebacker Adam Seward who is fourth with 87 tackles and needs just 15 more tackles to pass former Rebels safety Randy Black (294) to become the school's career leader in that category. Seward, a Bonanza High graduate, led the MWC in tackles last season with 133.

Here's the scary part. Morrison and Seward were very nearly teammates at UNLV.

"I took my first recruiting trip to Vegas and fell in love with it," Morrison, who prepped at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, Calif., said. "Kevin Thomas and Tosh Burrus were my hosts. I met Adam on my trip and we talked about going to UNLV together."

But Morrison changed his mind when two of his longtime friends, starting Aztecs strong safety Josh Dean and starting free safety Marvel Underwood, signed with San Diego State.

"If not for those two guys going here, I'd probably would have come to UNLV," Morrison said. "But we had played together in Pop Warner and with and against each other in high school. San Diego is not that far from the Bay Area and we decided to come down and start our own thing together down here. Plus there was the opportunity to come in and play as freshmen here."

But Morrison and Seward have continued their friendship thanks to the Internet, occasionally exchanging e-mails.

"Unfortunately he went to San Diego State," Seward said. "But you have to spread the talent out a little bit. It would have been a fierce battle (for playing time) if he was here, obviously. We both respect each other. We're both two pretty good linebackers.

"He's a great player," Seward continued. "He's got a good knack for the ball. He runs around really well and he has some good speed. He's doing a great job this year and their defense is playing really well."

The Aztecs (4-5, 1-3) in fact lead the Mountain West in scoring defense (20.3 ppg), pass defense (169.8 ypg) and total defense (299.1 ypg).

"We're just playing hard for four quarters and doing our scheme on defense," Morrison said. "Last year we were still learning some things. Now we're just going out and playing hard for four quarters."

Morrison, who said he will sit down at the end of the season and weigh his NFL options, gave his teammates some of the credit for his impressive tackle stats.

"We have another linebacker, Matt McCoy, who is also up there in tackles (89)," Morrison said. "Our defensive line has done a good job up front tying up blockers. I'm kind of the lucky one. I get to just go up and make tackles."

Seward said he'd like to catch Morrison in the tackle race, but is more focused on helping the Rebels get to a bowl game.

"I'm only seven tackles away from him right now," Seward said. "It should be interesting down the stretch. But right now I'm obviously more focused on doing what it takes to help us get to a bowl game. If I beat him in tackles, that would be great. But going to a bowl game and having another chance to play is the most important thing right now."

Morrison echoes Seward's comments.

"The highlight of my season is getting four wins to tie our total for last season," Morrison said. "But we want to try and keep on winning and get as many wins as we can and then see what happens."