PROVO — As John Beck enters his senior campaign and third season as BYU's established starter, he is straddling a line that separates greatness from mediocrity. He has one season — 12 or 13 games — to stand on one side or the other in Cougar quarterback lore.

Beck is caught in a paradox. While he's on pace to finish his career as the No. 2 passer in BYU history behind leader Ty Detmer — needing 2,401 yards to surpass Jim McMahon — his record as a starter in three seasons is an unimpressive 12-14. Beck has never led the Cougars to a conference championship. He's never led them to a winning season. He's never beaten arch rival Utah.

But those are not issues his position coach, Brandon Doman, a former Cougar QB himself, addresses with Beck.

"I don't talk much to John about anything right now. He knows plenty about what's going on," Doman said. "He hasn't won a conference championship and he wants to do it bad. He understands that and he's put in every bit of time possible to do that."

For Beck to clinch a spot among the pantheon of quintessential Cougar quarterbacks, "he has to win a championship. That's the bottom line," Doman said. "There are a lot of variables in there. There are certain conference games that he needs to win that are important to this community. He understands all that."

To be mentioned in the same breath with all of the great BYU quarterbacks of yore, like Detmer, McMahon and Doman, Beck needs to make big plays in critical moments, rack up glossy stats, win key games (including the one against Utah) and, yes, capture a conference championship. Beck is trying to become only the second LDS returned-missionary quarterback to guide the Cougars to a league title. Doman became the first in 2001, when he guided BYU to a 12-win season.

Not that Beck is a stranger to high expectations and big-time success. He led Mountain View High in Mesa, Ariz., to a record of 25-2 in two years as the starting quarterback. As a senior, he directed Mountain View to a state championship.

"He's like a legend at Mountain View," said BYU freshman quarterback Max Hall, another Mountain View High product.

Following his stellar prep career, Beck served a mission. Just months after arriving on BYU's campus in 2003, he was thrown to the wolves, starting against Stanford as a true freshman when Matt Berry went down with an injury. Since then, he's gone through two head coaches, three offensive coordinators and plenty of tough times.

Now, he feels that this is his year.