Poet putting together
complete set of scores

San Jose cornerback Trestin George
has six TDs, with only one of them
on defense

Trestin George says the most important part of poetry is collecting. Collecting thoughts and ideas, emotions and impressions. The more variety, the better.

SAN JOSE STATE AT HAWAII When: Tomorrow, 6:05 p.m. Where: Aloha Stadium Tickets: $24 sideline, $19 south end zone, $10 north end zone (adult), $9 north end zone (senior citizens), $12 north end zone (students 4-18), $3 UH students. Available at Aloha Stadium, Stan Sheriff Center, UH Campus Center, RainBowtique at Ward Centre, and Windward Community College's OCET Office. Or call (808) 944-2697 or go to hawaiiathletics.com on the Internet. TV: KFVE (Channel 5), delay at 10 p.m., rebroadcast Sunday at 9 a.m. Also available live on pay-per-view. Call 625-8100 on Oahu or (808) 643-2337-7784 on neighbor islands. Radio: Live, KKEA, 1420-AM. Parking: Gates open at 2:30 p.m. Parking is $5. Alternate parking at Leeward Community College, Kam Drive-In and Radford High School. Traffic advisory: 1420-AM is the official traffic advisory station and provides updates before each home game. Bus: Roberts Hawaii School Bus will run shuttles to and from the stadium with pick-ups at several locations. Call 832-4886 for information and reservations.

He's also a gatherer of touchdowns, and he's put together quite a diverse collection of those. The San Jose State cornerback and kick returner who was formerly a running back almost has the complete set.

Rushing (two). Receiving. Kickoff return. Interception. Punt return.

All he's missing is a TD by fumble return, and he nearly got that two weeks ago in the Spartans' 21-6 loss at Washington. He picked up an apparent Huskies fumble and ran it into the end zone, but the officials ruled it an incomplete pass, instead.

"That would've completed the set right there. It's about being in the right place at the right time. I didn't think about it until I got home, so I wasn't that disappointed," George said. "It's about getting into the end zone any way you can and doing what you can for the team."

Tomorrow, George's main job is preventing touchdowns. He leads the Spartans' (2-3, 1-1) pass defense (ranked 18th nationally) in a Western Athletic Conference game against Hawaii (2-3, 2-2) at Aloha Stadium.

George was a highly-regarded recruit who was courted by most of the Pac-10 schools after a 3,809-yard, 60-touchdown rushing career at St. Mary's High School in Berkeley, Calif. He chose San Jose State to remain close to his ill mother, Renee.

As a San Jose State freshman in 2002, George contributed on offense and defense. He made the full-time switch to defense last year.

"It wasn't really much of a big traumatic transition," he said. "Football's a game. When you're playing football, you play wherever you're needed on the field. When you have experience on both sides, it becomes second nature."

He's looking forward to taking on Hawaii's run-and-shoot offense.

"Their passing offense is incredible, really good quarterback and receivers. It's going to be a great challenge and I'm looking forward to it," he said. "It's good to play against a high-prestige passing game like Hawaii."

Neither the Warriors nor Spartans offense were very prestigious against each other last year, when UH won 13-10 with a controversial goal-line stand on the last play of the game.

"Last year was a heart-breaking experience," George said. "But we have to put that to the past and look forward to winning a WAC championship. Hawaii's a big game, a step to where we want to go. This year's a new game."

A game George may put to paper someday -- as poetry.

One of the many poems he has written, entitled "Intro," is published on www.poetry.com. Fittingly, for the man of many positions, it's about transition -- his coming of age when he was getting ready to leave eighth grade for high school.

"It's been cool, I've been picking up a lot of ideas and thoughts, and I've written so many poems about football over the years, I've lost some of them," he said.

On the football field, Spartans coach Fitz Hill said George's dedication matches his talent.

"Since we recruited him he's been a big part of the building process. When he came here he had to believe the vision. It was something he had to buy into, and he's done that," Hill said.

Said quarterback Dale Rogers: "It's no secret he's very talented, he brings a lot to our leadership with his work ethic. He's always the first to do every single drill. He sets a good example for the young players."