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D E C E M B E R 3 0 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M 17 When Bill O'Brien was coaching the Penn State football team a few years ago, a young defensive end named Carl Nassib approached him to discuss his NFL aspi- rations. O'Brien could hardly believe it. Nassib hadn't been a starter in high school and hadn't received a scholarship from the Nittany Lions. He had begun his career as a walk-on, and while the coaches were impressed with his dili- gence in the weight room, he hadn't seen action in any capacity during O'Brien's first season on the sideline. And yet somehow this kid had gotten it in his head that he was on track for a pro career. "He said to me, 'Football is really im- portant to me. I'm going to play pro foot- ball,' " O'Brien recalled during a recent appearance on Houston's FOX 26. "I said to him, 'Are you kidding me? You need to be concerned about playing at Penn State. Forget about pro football.' "He proved me wrong. He worked his butt off in the weight room, got stronger and got better and got bigger." He certainly did. And now the lanky senior defensive end is reaping the ben- efits of all that iron he's been pumping. ADer leading the country in sacks with 15.5 and forced fumbles with six, and ranking second nationally with 19.5 tack- les for loss, he's established himself as a draD-worthy prospect. He will definitely be the most decorated player on the field in the upcoming TaxSlayer Bowl. Earlier this month, Nassib won the 46th Rotary Lombardi Award, which goes to the nation's top lineman (offense or defense) or linebacker. Selected over Ohio State's Joey Bosa, Texas A&M's Myles Garrett and Clemson's Shaq Law- son, Nassib is the second Nittany Lion to win the award, joining 1978 honoree Bruce Clark. The same day he was named winner of the Lombardi Award, Nassib also won the 14th Ted Hendricks Award, which goes to the nation's top defensive end. The first Nittany Lion to win the Hen- dricks Award, Nassib received more than 50 percent of the votes from the commit- tee, outpacing Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun and Clemson's Lawson, who finished in a tie for second, as well as Oregon's DeForest Buckner, Texas A&M's Garrett and Oklahoma State's Emmanuel Ogbah. In accepting the award, Nassib re- counted how O'Brien's defensive coordi- nator, John Butler, used to call him "Stork," a reference to the 6-foot-7 Hen- dricks, who played in eight Pro Bowls and won four Super Bowls during a 15-year NFL career. "At the time I didn't know what it meant, so I took it as an insult," Nassib said. "But aDer realizing who it repre- sented, I see it now as a huge compli- ment. To receive this award is an amazing accomplishment and honor that I will al- ways remember." Nassib also won the Lott IMPACT Tro- phy, which goes to the nation's most im- pactful defensive player, and was a consensus first-team All-American. Before the national awards were handed out, Nassib was named the Big Ten's Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year and also earned first- team All-Big Ten honors from both the coaches and media. He is the sixth Nit- tany Lion to take home Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades since 1998. The awards were the fulfillment of a dream for Nassib, who believed in him- self before fans, media and even coaches were able to fully appreciate his poten- tial. "When I first got to Penn State, I walked by all the All-Americans [on the wall in the Lasch Building] and that was my main goal, to be an All-American," he said. "Every day, that is all I wanted to be, and I never expected that everything else would go along with it. That was the one thing that was my goal from the start. I am very proud to achieve that." Nassib said the postseason banquet circuit was "tiring at points" but also a lot of fun. He was introduced to a num- ber of people he might not otherwise have gotten to meet, including one of his most celebrated predecessors at Penn State, Courtney Brown, the school's ca- reer leader in sacks and tackles for loss. "Courtney Brown was such a great guy," Nassib said. "I met him in Indianapolis, and we had a great conversation. I felt re- ally honored to be in his presence. "He said he was proud of me. We talked a lot about different things, and he was excited for me and gave me a lot of ad- vice. It was great." Nassib will have only one more college game in which to put that advice into practice. In Georgia, he'll be facing an opponent that surrendered only 13 sacks all season, tied for 13th-fewest in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Nassib is eager to face the Bulldogs aDer seeing scant action in Penn State's last two games due to an unspecified injury. He was on the field for only four snaps in losses to Michigan and Michigan State, but he's looking to make a much bigger impact in the Nittany Lions' finale vs. Georgia. "I just want to put the Penn State jersey on one last time and just kick some ass," he said. "I just want to get out there and hit somebody really, really badly." M A T T   H E R B | M A T T @ B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . C O M LOSS LEADER Prodigious pass-rusher Carl Nassib looks to keep Georgia in the red CARL NASSIB ALL-AMERICA DEFENSIVE END I just want to put the Penn State jersey on one last time and just kick some ass. I just want to get out there and hit somebody really, really badly." "

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