Oshiomogho Atogwe has menaced opposing players throughout his Stanford career

Check out what Stanford's senior free safety had to say Thursday two days before his final collegiate game.

Stanford, Calif. - Check out what Stanford senior free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe had to say about the upcoming 107th Big Game and much more when he hit the gostanford.com chat room on Thursday two days before he plays in his final collegiate football game at California this Saturday, November 20 (12:30 pm, PST) in a nationally televised Fox Sports Net contest at Memorial Stadium. Atogwe's session concluded a series of weekly chats with Cardinal football players during the 2004 campaign, which has been one element of the in-depth, detailed and exclusive coverage of the 2004 Stanford Football team that has been featured on the Cardinal Commitment page of gostanford.com all season long. Other features on the page include press releases, a behind the scenes look at the Stanford Athletics Department staff, promotion and ticket information, Buddy Teevens' press conferences, player reports, assistant coaching reports, and of course, Gameday Central every Saturday for all Stanford Football games.

Atogwe has arguably become one of the top defensive players on the West Coast and arguably in the entire nation during his Stanford career.

Atogwe has now totaled 235 tackles in his Stanford career (144 solo, 91 assists), as well as nine interceptions, 11 forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries. He has played in all possible 44 games during the last four seasons at Stanford (2001-04).

After tying his career-highs in both tackles (14) and interceptions (2) versus Oregon State in his most recent game and 32nd consecutive start last Saturday (also two tackles for loss and a pass breakup, Atogwe moved back into the team's lead for tackles this season with 70 (40 solo, 30 assisted). He is attempting to become the first player in Stanford history to pace the team in tackles for three consecutive campaigns. Atogwe also co-leads the Cardinal this year with a career-high four picks and is one shy of his career-high with a current total of seven pass break-ups. He has also forced a pair of fumbles.

As a junior in 2003, Atogwe began to garner a reputation as one of the top safeties in all of college football and one of the most active and explosive defensive players in the Pac-10, leading the team in tackles with a career-high 90 (54 solo, 36 assists) for an average of 8.2 tackles per contest that ranked fourth in the conference. As a starter in all 11 games, he also paced both the team and league in both fumbles forced (six total, 0.55 per game average) and fumble recoveries (six total, 0.55 per game average), while adding two interceptions as well as career-highs in both pass breakups (8) and tackles for loss (5). His efforts helped him rack up the awards as he was named the club's Co-MVP and also won the Gundelach Award as the team's Most Outstanding Junior, while adding Second Team All-Pac-10 recognition to his accomplishments. On four occasions, he recorded 11 or more tackles including a career-high-tying best of 14 at Oregon State (11/15/03). One of the most memorable moments of his career came at USC (10/11/04) when he stripped the ball on a Trojan kickoff return and took it 22 yards the other way for a Cardinal score.

Atogwe broke into the team's starting lineup as a sophomore in 2002 and wound up leading the Cardinal in tackles (71) and winning the Deswarte-Eller Award as the team's Most Outstanding Sophomore, while starting all 11 games at strong safety to win. He also was at the top of the team's statistical rankings in interceptions (three) and forced fumbles (three) while accounting for one quarterback sack, one tackle for loss and four pass breakups. He had a season-best 13 tackles versus Oregon and also returned an interception 17 yards in that contest.

After redshirting as a true freshman in 2000, he made his Cardinal debut the following year as a reserve safety and special teams player who participated in all 12 contests.

Born to parents of Nigerian descent on June 23, 1981, Atogwe is a Biological Sciences major and a native of the city of Windor in Ontario, Canada. He was one of the top prep football players in Canada at W.F. Herman Secondary School, where he also suited up for hoops, soccer, and track and field. On the gridiron, Atogwe was named All-Canadian and All-Ontario during his final two seasons as a two-way starter at running back and cornerback. In his final prep season in 1999, he was also named the league's defensive MVP and defensive back of the year after intercepting six passes in five games. In addition, he was the league MVP in basketball as a senior and a three-time All-City selection in basketball.

Atogwe and his teammates will be hoping to snap a two-game Big Game losing streak and bring The Axe back to The Farm when Stanford (4-6, 2-5 Pac-10) and No. 4 California (8-1, 6-1 Pac-10) square off this Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley.

Despite the current two-game skid, Stanford leads the all-time series between the clubs, 54-41-3. Stanford had won seven in a row over the Golden Bears from 1995-2001 to post the longest winning streak by a team in Big Game history before Cal's recent resurgence in the series.

In addition to the national television broadcast of the game on Fox Sports Net, live audio broadcasts can be heard on the Stanford flagship radio station KNEW 910-AM, KZSU 90.1 FM and gostanford.com, as well as on the Stanford Football Radio Network (KFIA ... 710 AM, Sacramento ... KPSI 920 AM, Palm Springs ... KUIK 1360 AM, Portland).

Getting To Know Oshiomogho Atogwe