LONG-DISTANCE CALL; AS ILLINOIS PREP STAR, PAUS DID HIS OWN RECRUITING OF UCLA.

Byline: Jon Wilner Staff Writer

UCLA receives hundreds of highlight tapes of prospective recruits each year. They come from high school coaches, recruiting analysts and recruits themselves. One such tape arrived in the football office in January '97, in a Federal Express package from New Lenox, Ill., sent by a junior quarterback named Cory Paus.

The tape soon joined 99 others in a pile in offensive coordinator Al Borges' office. A few weeks later, Borges evaluated the tapes, which contained highlights of the next round of UCLA's quarterback recruits. He discarded 90 and showed the survivors, including the New Lenox tape, to head coach Bob Toledo.

``What we saw reminded us a little of Cade McNown,'' Borges said. ``We were impressed.''

A few months later, the Bruins offered Paus a scholarship without seeing him play in person - a common event for most positions but rare for quarterbacks. By then, the most unusual aspect of Paus' recruitment had become clear: He was pursuing UCLA as doggedly as UCLA was pursuing him.

That tape was their first date.

``They started it,'' said Paus, a redshirt freshman who will start his fourth game Saturday against Cal. ``They sent me recruiting letters, and I thought, `What they hell are they doing? They must be interested.' I was honored. Then I started recruiting them.''

The Bruins recruit players from across the country, but their selectivity increases with distance. Because it's harder to pull a top prospect out of Dallas than Phoenix, and because recruiting time is so valuable, they don't pursue players on talent alone. They have to detect interest, as well, and Paus was very interested.

After his junior season at Lincoln Way High, Paus mailed a copy of his highlight tape to schools that had written letters. (UCLA, seeing Paus' name on every major recruiting list, sent several letters during his junior season.)

Paus also spent weeks examining each team's style and personnel. He wanted a pass-oriented system, of course, and he wanted the chance to compete for the starting job in his second year. Teams with senior quarterbacks in 1998 - what would be his first year - were ideal.

Using every football magazine he could find, he made mock quarterback depth charts of each school. How many freshmen and sophomores were on the roster? Which teams were recruiting other quarterbacks from his class? He didn't fear competition, but he wasn't interested in sitting for three years, either.

UCLA fit each criteria.

The Bruins had a dynamic passing attack, ideal for Paus' mobility and accuracy. McNown would be a senior in 1998, so Paus could learn for a year, then compete for the job. And because McNown was a four-year starter who never got hurt, the Bruins hadn't developed a proven backup. Paus realized his competition would be an untested junior, Drew Bennett, an inexperienced sophomore, Scott McEwan, and another freshman, who turned out to be Ryan McCann.

``As soon as I started learning more about UCLA, I got really interested,'' Paus said. ``I never dreamed about going to UCLA, never even thought about it, until they sent me the letters. Then I saw the players they'd had in the past, and that they were an offensive power. I saw they had a lot of NFL guys, and I knew that in a worst-case scenario, which my parents told me to plan for, since you never know, that I'd have a degree from UCLA.''

Meanwhile, in the football office, Borges and Toledo were evaluating Paus' highlight tape.

``He was like Cade,'' Toledo said. ``He could run, he could throw. He played safety and made an interception in one of the games I saw. My thought was if he didn't play quarterback for us, he could always play safety. We really liked him.''

On the field, it was a perfect match. But what about Paus' psyche? Would he leave the Midwest? New Lenox is a community of 12,000, located 35 miles south of Chicago in the heart of Big-Ten country. It has Midwestern weather and Midwestern values. Would Paus commit to spending five years in L.A.?

It was time for the Bruins to do some research of their own. They dispatched offensive line coach Mark Weber, who recruits Chicago, to investigate. Weber visited Lincoln Way, watched more highlight tapes and talked to Paus' coaches and counselors. He also brought back tape for Borges and Toledo to examine.

``Whenever you go recruit in another part of the country, there has to be a reason,'' Weber said. ``And in Cory's case, it was obvious. There was a definite attraction. He was an L.A. kind of kid. He wanted to be the starting quarterback at UCLA.''

Extroverted and adventurous, Paus is happiest with a full schedule and new experiences. He took tae kwon do when he was 3. He loves ice hockey. He never met a road trip he didn't like. He'll try any food, go anywhere, play any sport.

``Nothing surprises us about Cory,'' said his mother, Nancy, who teaches at Lincoln Way. ``He has to be doing something all the time. At UCLA, there were a lot of opportunities to explore outside football.''

In 14 months on campus, Paus has waterskied on Lake Havasu and snowboarded on Mammoth Mountain. He's explored San Francisco, San Diego and Las Vegas (several times). Homesick? He doesn't have time to be homesick.

``I tend to get in trouble when I have nothing to do,'' Paus said with a mischievous grin. ``Out here, there's nothing you can't do on any given day at any time of the year. The only time you aren't doing something is because you don't want to. I don't know that I want to spend my life here, but it's a great place for a few years.''

Convinced of his talent and his interest, the Bruins offered Paus a scholarship in the late spring of '97 - long after he was hooked on UCLA. One issue remained: the campus.

In July, he and Nancy hit the road for unofficial (unpaid) visits to Arizona, Arizona State and UCLA. This was nothing new. During Easter-vacation road trips to Florida, Nancy and Rick Paus often stopped at colleges to give Cory, brother Casey and sister Caitlyn a feel for campus life.

They toured Vanderbilt and Tennessee one year, Georgia Tech and Florida State another. Paus also attended summer camps at Colorado and Texas, and he'd seen the Midwest schools - Northwestern, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and Notre Dame.

By the time he arrived in Westwood, Paus knew exactly what he wanted - and UCLA had it. He called the football office and accepted the scholarship. Two years later, he's UCLA's first starting quarterback since Tommy Maddox in 1991 who isn't from the West Coast.

``Seeing this place was the icing,'' Paus said. ``I knew for sure I was coming here. I wanted to see something different. I wanted to try something new.''

THE OUT-OF-TOWNERS

UCLA's Cory Paus is the only starting quarterback in the Pac-10 who's not a native of league territory.

School QB hometown

Arizona Keith Smith Newbury Park

Ortege Jenkins Long Beach

Arizona State Ryan Kealy Scottsdale, Ariz.

Cal Kyle Boller Newhall

Oregon A.J. Feeley Ontario, Ore.

Oregon State Jonathan Smith Glendora

Stanford Todd Husak Long Beach

Joe Borchard Camarillo

UCLA Cory Paus New Lenox, Ill.

USC  Carson Palmer Laguna Niguel

Mike Van Raaphorst El Cajon

Washington Marques Tuiasosopo Woodinville, Wash.

Washington StateSteve Birnbaum Chino Hills

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

PHOTO (color) UCLA quarterback Cory Paus decided what he wanted in a team, and found it at UCLA.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

BOX: The out-of-towners (see text)