Relentless. Optimism.

“I planted wrong and it tore.”

“The rest of 2007, I stayed home, watched games on TV and waited for the days to go by.”

Against BYU, two games in the 2007 season, Harwell tore the medial collateral ligament in his left knee.

Not like this was of any hardship UCLA defensive tackle Brigham Harwell has experienced.

Harwell epitomizes Rick Neuheisel’s unwavering mantra – “relentlessly optimistic.”

An upbringing that saw a car for a shelter, Harwell’s athletic career was of less importance than his day-to-day life.

His parents divorced in the fourth grade.

Harwell has eight siblings.

By the time he was in sixth grade, Brigham lived in the car with his mother and two other siblings.

They showered at friends’ houses and went to the library after school to do homework – there was no light in the car.

The state then declared his mother unfit for raising the children.

The three were placed in foster care.

Until Williams gained custody of Harwell before his freshman year at Los Altos High School in Hacienda Heights.

Still, Brigham did whatever it took to help out. He cut grass in the summer to help pay for his own expenses; he looked after his 5-year-old nephew, Jeremey, who is autistic.

But then, the Williams family moved to Chino Hills, an hour away from Los Altos.

Brigham didn’t want to transfer, so a neighbor drove one hour each way to pick up then drop off Harwell at Los Altos.

Through all of this, he maintained a B average in high school and was ½ sacks short of the high school record. He recorded 22 sacks in his senior season.

“Now, I'm living it up. Living on my own, in a dorm. It's great, but back then, I look back and I didn't know if I was going to eat one day, or sleep or shower. From sixth grade through high school, I can name so many friends, and their parents, that helped me out.”

You can also list the arthroscopic surgeries he’s had. The torn meniscus. The sprained ankle. A ripped ligament.

So what’s a torn MCL to him?

Since then, Harwell has trimmed to a chiseled 280 pounds and now bench presses 440 pounds.

In his first game in over a year, he forced Tennessee’s Arian Foster to fumble on a critical drive on the 6 yard line. He had five tackles – all solo.

He’s come a long way - from the trunk of a beaten-down Chevy to first-team all conference performer to candidate for the Outland Trophy, and now a solid NFL prospect.

"I've been telling myself, 'Brigham, it's your year,' like it's the last season in the world."

I’m guessing the mantra is still relentlessly optimistic.