enlarge Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer

Mike Brusko isn’t the highest-rated quarterback in college football. Far from it. But he showed the University of Maine last season that he knows how to win, leading the Black Bears to the playoffs. Now he’s the team leader.

UMAINE OPENER

WHO: St. Cloud State vs. UMaine

WHEN: 7 p.m. Sept. 3

WHERE: Alfond Stadium, Orono

ORONO — The vast resources of the Internet couldn't reveal a quick answer, so I turned to a human search engine and a native son with the question. What famous people have called Zionsville, Pa., their home?

"That would be me," said Mike Brusko after the briefest hesitation. "I'm not saying I'm famous but I'm probably the best known."

Bingo. You want confidence in the quarterback of your state university football team after he's been kicked around a little bit. If he didn't believe in himself, why would his teammates or Maine's fans?

"What do I look for in a quarterback? I want to see his head up in the huddle," said Tyrell Jones, a junior wide receiver. "I want to see the confidence. I want to see the man who's leading us."

Note that Jones didn't say anything about a strong right arm or the ability to get the ball into his hands again and again. He put the character issue at the top of his list.

Maine's football team gathered earlier this week for its traditional media day. Pose for the men and women with cameras, talk to those with microphones and notepads. How much smiling and how much storytelling depends on the player.

Brusko had his head up as he fielded one interview after another. He is one of the six quarterbacks on Maine's roster and his neck didn't appear sore from looking over his shoulder. The opener is less than three weeks away and this is his team.

"I'm not one for predictions," said Brusko, "but I want to leave here with a ring on my finger. Conference or national championship, it doesn't matter right now."

That's big talk from a starting quarterback who didn't have that job a year ago. Adam Farkes, who threw a better ball, won that competition the previous season. Yet in 2008 it was Brusko lining up behind center when Maine won six straight games to reach the NCAA playoffs.

"Joe Kapp," said Maine Coach Jack Cosgrove, evoking the name of a long-ago NFL quarterback. "Think of (Brusko) as our Joe Kapp."

Brusko had never heard of Kapp, who replaced Fran Tarkenton in Minnesota and led the Vikings to their first playoff appearance in 1968 and first appearance in the Super Bowl after the 1969 season. Made the cover of Sports Illustrated in July 1970 as "The Toughest Chicano." Months later he was playing for a bad Boston Patriots team the year before Jim Plunkett arrived.

In college, Kapp would rather keep the football than pass. It wasn't a successful game unless he ran over linebackers. John Ralston, his coach at California, once said Kapp could play all 22 positions on the field. He was a leader and a tough guy. After football he played a prison guard in the original "The Longest Yard." Had a few other acting gigs. Went back to California to become the Golden Bears' head coach.

Brusko as Kapp? The analogy works. Neither man was the classic passer. Theirs was a blood, guts and guile approach that doesn't always win the appreciation of fans.

After losing his job to Farkes, Brusko did what he could to get back on the field. Line up as wide receiver? Sure, coach. Run back kicks? Put me in, coach. Still, Brusko wanted to lead his team. That meant reclaiming the quarterback's role.

"I've never wanted anything handed to me," said Brusko, who fought for playing time in high school. "I want to earn it. I got a taste of being No. 1 and I wanted it back. All I could do was work hard and wait."

Farkes left Maine after last season, but sophomore Warren Smith transferred in from Iona, which dropped football. Chris Treister, a redshirt sophomore from Portland High, has been the understudy waiting for his own opportunity. Then there's freshmen Nate Doehler, John Ebeling and Marcus Wasilewski.

"It takes a different type of player to play quarterback," said Brusko. "It's a pressurized situation. It's complex, it's demanding. When you're not playing it's a test of your love for the game. For me to play at this level,...