I remember back in 2007, I was watching the Cal-Oregon football game (you know, the one where Marcus Ezeff used his noggin). At one point, Ducks quarterback Dennis Dixon took off up the middle. With the defense in sight, Dixon threw a dirty juke that left one Cal player grasping for air.

That player was current sophomore linebacker Mike Mohamed. Needless to say, he has made giant leaps since that day.

After an outstanding 2008 season in which he earned a Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week honor, Mohamed will be expected to lead a linebacker group that graduated three seniors.

Mustafa Shaikh: The NFL Draft took place this past weekend, and there was a bit of a surprise for Cal fans. One of your fellow linebackers, Zack Follett, was predicted to go early on the second day, yet he fell all the way to the seventh round.

Mike Mohamed: I was over at his house, actually, for the whole time during the draft and like you said, they had him going really high on the boards. I think since the first round, they had him (as one of the) top three outside linebackers available.

We're just disappointed he didn't go much higher like we thought. But he did end up being drafted, and he's ready to make the most of this opportunity and go out there and tear it up like we know he can.

MS: I know you're a Chargers fan, so before this interview I looked up who the Chargers drafted. I saw that in the fourth round they drafted this guy Vaughn Martin from the University of Western Ontario. I didn't even know people played college football in Canada. Is this news to you?

MM: It definitely is. When we saw that on the board, we were just kind of wondering, "Where is Western Ontario? Do they even have football out there?"

MS: You just wrapped up spring practice. A lot of it was figuring out who to plug in at linebacker. I saw Mychal Kendricks switched from outside to inside backer. What was behind that move?

MM: (The coaches) were just trying to get a feel for Kendricks. He's a young guy. He's fast. He just has the ability to play multiple positions. I think that's what they were doing. They were just throwing him in wherever, just trying to find the best fit.

MS: Last year, you were the one playing different positions. Are you going to be staying at inside linebacker next season?

MM: There's a little bit of versatility in there. There's going to be the option of throwing me around a little bit, but mostly I'll be anchored down there a little and just making my plays.

MS: How tough is your "offseason" in terms of practice and workouts?

MM: I think sometimes it's more demanding ... (In) spring ball, you get a little more beat up. I think the coaches know that you have another six months to heal before August camp starts. It's a little more physically demanding.

MS: During the summer do members of the team have to stay up here?

MM: Yeah, we do. The coaches like everybody to be together. It just helps build that team camaraderie and that work ethic. There's no better way to do it than with a hundred guys doing the same thing as you're doing ...

It's weight-lifting three days a week and then we do 7-on-7's ... We'll work on that just so we don't get too out of football. The coaches don't want ... us to go all the way to August not playing football at all.

MS: Earlier I was asking Chris Haugh, another writer here, if he had any questions I could use for the podcast. He said, "Yeah, actually, I heard in (the video game NCAA Football 09), his character is black." Right now I'm looking at you, and you're not the tannest guy around. How did that happen?

MM: To tell you the truth, I don't know. I get a lot of stuff from the guys on the team: "Hey, did you know that you're black on NCAA?"

I'm like, "Yeah." Hopefully they'll change it this year. We'll see.

MS: Who first found out about it?

MM: Actually, my dad, he was the first one to tell me. He got the game, he was checking it out and he said, "Hey, did you know you're black on there?" It was pretty funny.

Tags: MIKE MOHAMED, MUSINGS OF A MOOSE, CAL FOOTBALL