Growing up in Hawaii, Aaron Tipoti never spent more than about an hour in a car at any one time. So it's understandable that he is not looking forward to the Cal football team's bus ride down to Los Angeles this weekend.

"Maybe (I'll) stay up the whole night before," he said at Tuesday's press conference. "I've got to find some kind of way to sleep on that bus, that's for sure."

The energy might come in handy. With Kendrick Payne making the trip but questionable due to a knee injury that kept him out of the USC game, the redshirt freshman Tipoti will likely be the Bears' backup nose tackle in Saturday's 12:30 p.m. game against UCLA in Pasadena.

After redshirting last season and earning Co-Defensive Scout Player of the Year honors, Tipoti has seen a spike in playing time over the last couple weeks.

"It kind of sucks that Kendrick's hurt, but at the same time I take it as an opportunity for me to step up and show coaches what I can do," he said. "I've just got to start producing more as far as on the field, just take advantage of the opportunity."

Tipoti has 13 tackles on the season, four each against USC and Oregon. With the emphasis of Cal's 3-4 defense on gap control, though, his main responsibility is plugging up the middle and forcing running backs into lanes that should be filled by the Bears' linebackers-something that he truly enjoys.

Tipoti met with defensive line coach Tosh Lupoi over the offseason about focusing on either nose tackle or end and landed with the former because, he said, "for me, it's more exciting." He likes the contact.

Sometimes it also allows him to line up alongside Tyson Alualu, Cal's senior defensive end and a fellow Honolulu native.

From the moment Tipoti joined the program, Alualu took Tipoti under his wing, opening his home to the freshman, helping him adapt to football, school and the "more upbeat" atmosphere on the mainland.

"When he came in, knowing that he was from Hawaii-just a similar situation (to mine)-I wanted to be that older brother for him," Alualu said. "Because when I came here, honestly, I didn't really like it here. So I wanted to show him the positive side, and that we could be his family away from his family back home."

Other players joke that Tipoti, with his birthplace and long hair, actually is like a kid brother to Alualu-or a son. Alualu laughs along and doesn't seem to mind. The freshman, after all, shows promise.

"He's a great kid coming out of Hawaii," Alualu said. "Smart dude. Got a lot of great talent, potential. I think there's going to be great things in his future at Cal."

Tags: JEFF TEDFORD, CAL, CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS, AARON TIPOTI, CAL FOOTBALL