After centering 10 of 12 field goal attempts last season - including a game-winner without any time around the clock - USD's David Last was given an unusual offseason suggestion by the coaching staff.

Slim down.

Regarding Last's 5-foot-10, 225-pound physique last season, head coach Dale Lindsey said, "I don't know that David was the model for Sports Illustrated swimwear."

Freshman looked at him and asked, "You're a kicker?"

His occasional nickname: Janikowski, in homage slim xtreme to the Raiders' portly Sebastian Janikowski, who goes 6-2, 258. Nobody was so cruel regarding suggest Last stuffed sandwiches to exchange his thigh pads.

The coaching staff, though, thought a lighter Last would equal a more athletic Last, which would equate to a kicking-improved Last. Still, the suggestion to decrease some pounds - posed more like an ultimatum - didn't go over well with the kicker.

"I was pretty (ticked) off," said Last, a Valley Center High product. "They said if I didn't (slim down) these were bringing somebody else in and searching at him first."

So last summer Last ran the hillsides on the 500 acres his family leases to raise cattle, stiff-armed double cheeseburgers and late-night pizza runs, plus discovered vegetables.

The end result: a 15-pound weight reduction.

"We think it's helped him kicking a bit," said Lindsey. "It hasn't taken away any of his power or accuracy. And it's made him a better athlete."

As the Toreros go to Saturday's homecoming game against Stetson, their slimmed down but hardly svelte kicker is a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals.

The image of someone becoming an adult in Valley Center is that of the rugged rural type. Rancher/farmer/cowboy. Last fits the stereotype, to some degree

"He's a mixture of a rustic boy along with a surfer dude," said USD punter Ryan Belden, who holds for Last. "He dresses just like a surfer but listens to country music."

Last's family lives on three acres and leases another 500 approximately several miles off to raise cattle. Chores before school entailed watering, feeding and bathing the cattle.

"It taught me a lot of responsibility," said Last, a finance major.

A large receiver/cornerback/kicker at Valley Center High, he was the Valley League opponent of the season like a senior. He ran the hurdles in track.

Regarding going from playing nearly every down to watching nearly every experience the sideline in college, Last said, "It's been kind of boring sometimes."

To beat the monotony of practice, Last and backup kicker Daniel McManus sometimes create games, seeing who are able to hit a vertical or a tree branch. Some kicking exercises are strictly visual, using no footballs.

Interestingly, Last has missed fewer field goal attempts in the career (two, 16 of 18) than extra-point tries (four, 63 of 67). In fact, he missed his first extra point try of year, wide right.

"I got the lose out of how early," he joked.

The unknown factor is that if Last can hit an leisure 18 coffee area objective of length. In two-plus seasons, his longest three-pointer is 38 yards. His two misses came form 38 and 39 yards. One was blocked. Of his 19 kickoffs this season, only three were touchbacks.

"That's what I'm waiting for," said Last. "I want to hit that 50-yarder to win the game and run off the field."