Treibatch Puts Punch in Defense for CSUN

To say that Eric Treibatch had an immediate impact on the Cal State Northridge football team would be more than cliche. It would also be the truth.

During his first practice two years ago, Treibatch, a safety, left a lasting impression on a prospective receiver.

The receiver, a sprinter on the track team, was trying out for the football team for the first time. As he gathered in a pass and turned upfield, Treibatch leveled him.

“He was out cold before he hit the ground,” CSUN Coach Bob Burt said of the receiver candidate, “and he never showed up again.”

It was the kind of hit Treibatch dreams about. In the open, helmet to helmet. “The kind of hit where the guy drops on his back. Not even to the side, just straight back,” Treibatch says whimsically.

Leave the 60-yard interception returns to other defensive backs. On Treibatch’s fantasy play, he picks off a pass, laterals to a teammate, then turns and leads the blocking, burying everyone in his path.

“I like to hit,” the 6-foot, 188-pound freshman says. And he does it often. After 3 games, he leads the team in tackles with 21. He also has 2 interceptions, a fumble recovery and numerous TKOs--Treibatch knockouts.

“He’s one of those guys who always seems to be around the ball,” Burt says.

The perplexing question is, how?

Speed, certainly, is not his forte. “I’m not even close to being the fastest DB,” Treibatch says. “In fact, I’m probably about the slowest.”

Burt attributes Treibatch’s success to brains more than brawn.

“He’s one of those guys who has the ability to take what’s up here,” Burt says, pointing to his head, “and transfer it to his feet.

“With most of these guys something gets stuck around the waist area.”

Treibatch says that on a given play there are several subtle clues to lead him in the right direction.

“I read the quarterback’s eyes as he comes up to the line,” he says. “I feel the linemen, how they grip into their stance for a run and how they get kind of light-footed on a pass. And I can feel the emotion of the backs. They step hard when they’re coming in to block or run and they’ll kind of be cautious when they pass block because they have to keep their feet. It’s all that stuff.”

The key, of course, being the ability to decipher all of that and react accordingly in a matter of seconds.

Sitting in the stands at North Campus Stadium after practice one day this week, Treibatch is animated as he describes the action a moment before he moves in for a tackle.

“I can feel a sweep like that,” he says, snapping his fingers, “so I come up hard and whoosh, I just go.”

On occasion, however, he can be too aggressive and try to do too much.

“I’ll come up on a run and, boom”--he whistles like an incoming mortar round--”play action, oh, no. It’s tough, but in order to make things happen, you have to take risks.”

If Treibatch has a specialty, it’s defending against the run. This might be part of the reason he has excelled. In CSUN’s 3 games opponents have tried only 39 passes.

That number will go up this weekend, when the Matadors travel to Pocatello, Idaho, to play Idaho State.

Jason Whitmer, the Bengals’ quarterback, passed for 2,616 yards in 9 games as a freshman last season. He has thrown 93 times, completing 42 for 441 yards in 2 this season.

“It’ll be a definite test for me, a personal challenge,” Treibatch says. “I don’t want to be thought of as only a run guy. This is my chance to show I’m a complete player.”

That opportunity will weigh against Treibatch’s natural instincts to play the run. It is a battle waged periodically throughout every game--particularly near the goal line.

Northridge often runs a complicated pass coverage called red-combo in short-yardage situations. The alignment involves calls between 3 players, and a mistake by any of them likely means a touchdown for the opposition.

“There’s a point in every game when I really want to play smash-mouth,” Treibatch says, “but I have to get over that kind of egotistical, macho attitude and just play assignment football.

“It’s like playing against Hayward. They ran the wishbone and I had the pitch man. No matter how much I wanted to kill that quarterback, I had the pitch. Nothing’s harder than running past the guy with the ball to get your man. You just want to . . . It’s hard.”

So far, there haven’t been many breakdowns. Northridge, ranked No. 6 in the NCAA’s Division II, has outscored opponents, 96-6, and has not allowed a touchdown, this from a defense with only two starters back from last season.

Treibatch watched most of the action in 1987 from the sidelines--in street clothes. After making special-teams appearances in CSUN’s first three nonconference games, he went out because of a stress fracture in his left leg. He later was granted a redshirt season.

Many of his teammates are still unaware that he has freshman eligibility.

“I never say I’m a freshman because I don’t really want to be thought of as one,” Treibatch says. “I want them to think I’m a stable part of the defense. They tend to look at freshman as immature. It’s a stereotype.”

Wait until they find out he also is a walk-on, receiving no scholarship money.

“I begged for a tryout,” Treibatch says. “When I first said I wanted to play at CSUN, they weren’t very encouraging. They said it cost a lot of money to bring a guy through camp, so they’d get back to me. I waited all summer before they finally sent me a letter with a schedule and told me to come in.”

Treibatch played high school football at Montclair Prep. In his junior season the Mounties featured Reggie Smith, Richie Swinton and Tim Stallworth and advanced to the Inland Conference championship game. Smith signed with USC, Swinton and Stallworth with Washington State.

But in Treibatch’s senior season, Montclair Prep had a losing record, and even though he started on offense, defense and special teams, his efforts went unnoticed by college recruiters. He was the team’s most valuable player, but while other players received scholarships, he never even got a phone call.

“It was hard for me,” he says. “I never left the field my whole senior year. I was MVP and the other guys got the rides.”

It was at that point Treibatch that decided he would not allow his ability to be ignored again.

“I couldn’t run a 4.6 40, but I obviously needed something to show I could play,” Treibatch said. “That was hitting. I figured if I hit and showed I was good on run support, maybe they would mold me into a pass defender.”

His play early last season earned him an offer of financial assistance from Northridge coaches last spring. Treibatch declined.

“I don’t need the money, so why take it from someone else who really needs it?” he says. “I just wanted to play football. That’s the only thing I’ll ask.”