Turning the Corner : Defensive Backs Settle Down at CS Northridge

The Barnes Brothers were not destined to play football for Cal State Northridge.

Eric Barnes didn’t want to play at all after his NCAA Division I scholarship hopes were dashed by Proposition 48 requirements.

Tremelle Barnes didn’t give college, much less football, a thought. He was too busy making money as a grocery store box boy.

Today, the seniors are the leading candidates at the cornerback positions for the Matadors, the defending Western Football Conference co-champions who will conclude spring drills with an intrasquad game tonight at 7 at North Campus Stadium.

Although Eric and Tremelle are not related, their similar positions, last names, and 5-foot-10, 180-pound frames have earned them the nickname “The Barnes Brothers.”

Already, they are so close they can finish each other’s sentences.

“We feel comfortable . . .,” Eric said.

“With one another,” Tremelle added. “We’re good friends off the field too.”

Eric’s contentment contrasts sharply with his feelings of three years ago.

“I was real upset,” he said. “I didn’t want to go to a (junior college). . . . I felt my (high school) coach should have worked harder to get a school to take me, even though I was Prop. 48.”

Except for a score of less than 700 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, Eric had major-college football credentials. In his career at Dominguez High, he rushed for 1,500 yards and intercepted 10 passes.

His retirement from the game did not last long.

“My friends, they play football, and all my life I’ve played football,” he said. “So I decided that’s what I needed to do.”

Eric enrolled at Cerritos College, earned a starting position and made 37 tackles and deflected seven passes. As a sophomore, he made 59 tackles, deflected six passes, had two interceptions, forced two fumbles and made a fumble recovery.

Last year at Northridge, Eric shared right cornerback with senior LaVelle Parker, gaining more playing time as the season wore on.

“He has the ability to accelerate to the ball,” Northridge Coach Bob Burt said. “And he’s very physical. He hits with authority.”

In the season finale, CSUN’s first-round Division II playoff loss to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Eric made two interceptions.

He finished the season with three interceptions for 29 yards, three pass deflections and 30 tackles, including 17 solo.

Eric credits his improvement to Mark Banker, Northridge’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach.

“He makes sure I do the right thing,” Eric said. “He is always on me. He is the reason for all my success.”

One of Eric’s greatest assets is his ability to concentrate.

“His attitude is to just do it,” Northridge junior cornerback Rodney Banks said. “He always makes the big plays. He has a quiet intensity.”

Intensity that isn’t always evident.

“I don’t show much emotion,” Eric said. “Sometimes the real important game, the championship game, I might let something show, but I usually keep it inside.”

Tremelle’s route to Northridge was more circuitous than Eric’s. Five years ago his interest in his job took precedence over football or college.

“I needed the money,” Tremelle said. “Twelve, thirteen dollars an hour sounds good when you’re 18. I wanted to work my way up in the store.”

After a year of carting groceries after his graduation from Fairfax High, Tremelle did not receive the coveted promotion to checker, so he enrolled at Pasadena City College.

After earning All-Mission Conference first-team honors as a sophomore, he transferred to Nevada Reno, a Division I-AA school. As a reserve in 1989, he appeared in nine of 11 games and made 21 tackles, forced one fumble and recovered another.

Tremelle left Reno because of family problems and did not attend school last fall. In January, he enrolled at Northridge.

Fortunately for him, the 17-month layoff from football has not taken its toll.

“I trained real hard in the off-season so I could come into spring ball in shape,” Tremelle said. “That way it is a mental game as opposed to a physical game. I won’t have to deal with conditioning; that gives me the edge.”

Despite his walk-on status and the competition he will receive from Banks, redshirt freshmen Charles Baker and Vince Johnson, among others, Tremelle is confident.

“Wherever I went, I planned on playing,” he said. “I felt I had enough ability and enough speed. I am in control of my own destiny as far as how I produce this season.

“What is the saying? ‘You make the place, the place doesn’t make you.’ ”

Tremelle, who has been clocked in 4.4 seconds for the 40-yard dash, is one of the fastest members of the Northridge defense.

“He has excellent feet,” Burt said. “That is what sets corners apart. We knew he had a chance to be a pretty good player. He still has a long way to go, but they all do. At this point he’s doing a good job.”

Like Eric, Tremelle is intense, sometimes “over-intense,” according to Eric.

“I think I’ve learned in the last 10 days to concentrate on my job, and only my job,” Tremelle said with a laugh.

“At (junior college) I played strong safety, and strong safety made all the calls. It was a carry-over from that, but now I’ve decided to worry only about my job.”

The opportunity to earn a four-year degree and play on a legitimate Division II contender is beyond the expectations of a one-time grocery clerk.

“It is not only getting the college degree,” Tremelle said. “The whole college experience has been great.”

Eric can echo those sentiments because he has buckled down in the classroom and become a quiet leader on the field.

Together, the Barnes Brothers are helping chart CSUN’s course, now that they’ve found their own.