Aggie QB glad to be playing

LOGAN — Utah State sophomore backup quarterback Jase McCormick is heading down a familiar road.

As a junior at Northridge High in 2000, McCormick platooned with Jeff Kusuda at quarterback before Kusuda broke his jaw, leaving the job solely to McCormick for a time.

When Kusuda returned later in the year, the two split time — even in the Class 5A state championship game. McCormick took over early in that game and led the Knights to a monumental 44-29 victory over Skyline.

He threw for 1,604 yards and 15 touchdowns in earning first-team all-state honors as a junior. The following year, as the starter, he threw for 2,650 yards and 27 touchdowns in leading the Knights to their second of three straight 5A titles. He was named the classification's MVP.

Last week, against No. 3 Oklahoma, McCormick played in his first football game since the summer of 2002. He entered the game — by design — in the second for starter Leon Jackson III.

"It's nice to have something to compare it to, something that you've gone through," he said about coming off the bench.

In his collegiate debut, McCormick completed 6-of-10 passes for 22 yards and rushed for 11.

"I definitely think there were some nerves there with the environment and not having played for a long time," he said. "Overall, I thought I prepared well during the week and I felt I could go out there and perform."

His debut will be unforgettable for all the wrong reasons, though. The Aggies lost 54-3 in front of 84,043 fans at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Getting into a game was a long time coming for the sophomore.

He served an LDS Church mission to Taiwan before enrolling at Utah State in 2005, and he was a redshirt his first year back.

"I don't think I was physically ready to come back and compete at that time if I would have tried," he said. "I feel I'm back (now). It took me a lot longer than I expected to get back ... After the first couple of times I got hit, I wanted to go out there and compete. It took a little while, but it wasn't as long as the physical side of things."

He made great strides during that year, but his redshirt freshman season was somewhat of a letdown.