Jimmie Kaylor can’t hesitate.

The Colorado State punter has about two seconds to kick the football as far and high as he can. Otherwise, a horde of 300-pound lineman and skills players with whirlwind quickness could make a disastrous block.

“I try not to think too much, because that’s where you run into problems,” said Kaylor, who had a punt blocked against Minnesota. “If you think, you get tense.”

The former Northglenn Norseman has more than put the Minnesota game behind him.

In his first season as the starting punter for the Rams, he ranks fourth in the nation this season with an average of 45.7 yards a punt and is the only sophomore listed in the top five. He was named to the Mountain West Conference first team and Sports Illustrated put him on its honorable mention all-American list.

“My dream’s been to be a good football player, and now I’m doing it,” he said.

But his dream didn’t turn out exactly as planned.

A three-year starter for Northglenn, Kaylor concentrated on the tight end and quarterback positions. As a senior he quarterbacked the Norse to a league title.

Punting was something else he did.

“I never really started taking (punting) seriously until I started getting recruited, and that was my senior year,” said Kaylor, who said punting came naturally to him as a boy. “I was the guy on my team making fun of kickers.”

But former Northglenn High School coach Scott Gallas could see the potential in Kaylor early on. Gallas told Kaylor as a sophomore in high school that he could pay for college with his kicking. Recently he called Kaylor the best punter he’s seen in 20 years of coaching. Kaylor averaged 45 yards a kick and was named a prep All-American by Student Sports Magazine as a senior.

Those numbers caught the attention of Colorado State coaches, who impressed Kaylor with their honesty, integrity and a punting scholarship. Other programs just wanted Kaylor to walk on the team.

“Jimmie was a big part of our program and we knew he’d be a big part of theirs,” Gallas said.