San Diego-area stars ride College Football Playoff wave with Boise State – elcajon newson Elcajon News only

The moment became a quick trip on a time machine to when Marco Notarainni and Matt Lauter played high school football at Torrey Pines.

Boise State faced a fourth-and-3 near the end of the third quarter of a 56-24 win over San Diego State on Nov. 1. The Broncos lined up to punt, but they snapped to Notarainni, who raced up the middle behind the block of his former Falcons teammate.

First down … and a bit of deja vu.

“Just a little back-to-the-glory days, Lauter blocking for me again,” said Notarainni, whose day job is working as a linebacker for the Broncos. “Made a couple of cuts and got a first down. It was like going back to Torrey Pines and running the Wing-T.”

The pair share something else, along with Mt. Carmel edge rusher Jayden Virgin-Morgan.

The San Diego trio will play for a shot at the national title in the College Football Playoffs when Boise State faces favored Penn State in Tuesday’s Fiesta Bowl.

It’s a never-before chapter.

“It’s pretty crazy,” said Lauter, an all-Mountain West tight end who leads his conference counterparts with 43 catches for 523 yards and six touchdowns. “In the past, after a bowl game you fly home no matter whether you win or lose.

“This year we’re treating it like a new season. I know some people will count us out, but we know we have the team to do it. This thing’s not over, just because we made the playoffs.”

Virgin-Morgan, another all-Mountain West pick, ranked 12th in the country with 10 sacks. His 15 1/2 tackles-for-loss stand 14th in the FBS.

The redshirt sophomore said perceptions stoke his team.

“This gives us the opportunity to prove people wrong,” he said. “It’s great to have the opportunity to show why we shouldn’t be counted out and the quote-unquote lower conferences can play.”

One mental edge the team possesses, they said, comes in the form of 5-9 running back Ashton Jeanty.

The Heisman Trophy runner-up has piled up 2,497 yards, just 132 short of eclipsing the single-season record set by former Oklahoma State and Detroit Lions star Barry Sanders in 1988.

Bowl game totals were not included in season totals when Sanders played, but they are now.

There’s no debating the greatness, though.

Offensively, Boise State feels like Jeanty gives them the breakaway to keep them in games. In a 37-34 at current No. 1 Oregon early in the season, his churning legs accounted for 192 yards and three touchdowns — including a 70-yard burst to tie the game in the fourth quarter.

Defensively, the Broncos (12-1) feel as if steel sharpened steel by playing against Jeanty each day in practice.

“He’s nothing short of spectacular,” Notarainni said. “I know I’m getting the best of the best, the best look from him. It gives me confidence going into games, knowing I’ve seen a better running back on our own team and it helps me play faster.”

Jeanty buoys confidence on both sides of the ball.

“When you see his prep in the offseason and who he is as a person, when you see him in the huddle, you want to block for a person like that,” Lauter said. “The moment that really shocked me was against Oregon when he took a mid-zone run 70 yards to the house.

“It’s so impressive to see him break away in space like that.”

So they pack all of it — the quiet confidence, the shoulder chip, the singular weapon at running back — to face Penn State. The Nittany Lions, a double-digit bully after routing SMU 38-10, stand in the way of a spot in the national semifinals.

That game will be against the Notre Dame-Georgia winner in the Jan. 9 Orange Bowl.

“It’s amazing, just being able to continue our legacy,” Virgin-Morgan said. “Going into the Fiesta Bowl, knowing it’s an eight-team playoff and a win means you have another game.”

There could be more memories.

There could be another trip back in time.

“What I remember (about the fake punt), in practice, the play was originally supposed to go to me,” Lauter said. “We were both in the ‘shield’ and we flipped spots, (special teams) coach (Stacy) Collins said, ‘The other team is going to pick up on this.’

“So we went back to our regular spots.”

No regrets, Lauter said.

“I don’t mind blocking for a fellow Falcon,” he said. “That was one of my favorite plays this year. I was able to pancake my guy, so it was pretty sweet.”

And it could get sweeter.

Much sweeter.