Jacob Bower cracked a small smile when he told to a room full of media members that he was once a singer in a traveling church choir.

Yes, Nebraska's walk-on-turned-scholarship linebacker who craves contact was a singer at one point. That traveling choir once brought him to Lincoln when he was around 10 years old. The choir got to tour Nebraska's facilities. There are even pictures of a young Bower running around on the field at Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska football always stuck with Bower from that moment, he said Tuesday during a press conference inside Hawks Championship Center. He still remembered it when he was racking up 174 tackles, 6.5 sacks and four interceptions in his final two seasons of high school football at Santa Margarita Catholic in California.

And when it came time for Bower to decide what he wanted to do with his future — he had narrowed his options to attending Army and playing rugby and possibly football while getting a free college education, or paying his own way to walk-on with the Huskers — those memories were there again.

Bower wanted to be a Husker.

His mom, Rebecca, called it his "God moment." Or in other words, a "how-could-I-pass-this-up kind of kind of thing," Bower explained.

Bower had started playing rugby during his sophomore year of high school at Santa Margarita Catholic, and was pretty good at it. His older brothers played the sport, plus it was a fun way to stay in shape for football and continue working on his tackling technique.

The determination and focus to become something at Nebraska is starting to pay off. Last week head coach Matt Rhule announced Bower was going on scholarship.

"It was really nice to hear those kind words in front of the whole team. That meant a lot for me to hear that from my coach," Bower said. "We have a great relationship, so for him to say that in front of me, in front of the team, really meant a lot. It showed how much he trusted me."

After practice, Bower called his parents. His dad, Christopher, was at work and didn't answer. His mom did, and it quickly turned into a FaceTime.

Then came the tears.

"She started crying right away, and I was trying not to be emotional," Bower said. "I wanted to stay strong for her. But between her and I, this was something I was really shooting for, I was really striving for."

There were plenty of emotions because of what was said when Bower decided to not take the free education Army provided and instead pay for school at Nebraska to chase his football dreams.

"I told my mom that I appreciate her, that she was going to let me have this opportunity to continue to play football, which I love, and then I was going to get a scholarship so she wouldn't have to pay for my school," Bower said. "And that's I think why it became so emotional, because it was just like me grinding and calling her and checking up on her and telling her the news of how I'm doing. And then finally, the best call was that day and I got to tell her that I got it, and it was it was done."

Luke Reimer and John Bullock are two players Bower watched and tried to mimic on the football field. Reimer and Bullock both came to the program as walk-ons, same as Bower, before showing the coaching staff they could play at this level.

Even other former Husker linebackers like Nick Henrich and Garrett Snodgrass helped Bower, who had many questions but didn't want to be a pain.

"I'd have to ask them separate questions, because I didn't want to seem like I was too like annoying to them," Bower said.

Bullock especially was someone Bower watched and followed. The two players are similar in size — Bullock played last season at 6 feet and 230 pounds, Bower is listed at 6-1, 220 — and skill set.

"John, for two years, was always like a mentor to me, and I always looked up to him and watched his style of play, tried to pick up things that he did well," Bower said. "...I tried to excel at what he was good at and learn from him as much as I could."

Bower credited preparation as one of the main reasons he's seen his spring stock rise to the point where his head coach said this about him last week:

"He's not just in the 105," Rhule said of Bower. "He might be in the starting lineup/some of the packages we'll do."

But there's also the Dr. Michael Stout angle to this whole thing. Stout joined Nebraska last summer as the director of football mental performance. In his role, Stout works with Nebraska football players to help them compete at their peak potential and foster a sense of mental wellbeing on and off the field.

"I meet with Dr. Stout quite often, and we just talk about mentally attacking everything, and we use these trigger words between us, like, 'what's next,' obviously as a team one," Bower said. "And then 'send me' from the Book of Isaiah, chapter six. It's for me to realize that I'm capable of doing this, and I'm meant to be here for a reason. So 'send me.' I can do anything through God, and that's just kind of how I view things. And I prepare myself mentally before each practice, and I try to remember that this is a blessing to be out here."

While John Butler's defense is still a mystery and will continue to be one until the team kicks off its season against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City in August, Bower provided a glimpse into what he's been doing as a linebacker on the unit.

"It's very aggressive. I like the fact that he blitzes me, and I've been able to utilize those opportunities to blitz to get better," Bower said.

Butler being a hands-on kind of coach is something else Bower likes about his defensive coordinator.

"In our learning periods, he's always there to teach us things for any scenario," Bower said of Butler. "So if we have any scenario, it's always covered with Butler. It's very similar to what we did last year, but obviously he's got his little tweaks to it, and I'm excited to see how it goes this upcoming season."

Details are the name of the game for every coach. With Butler, Bower said there's been an emphasis on impacting the ball during their rush, if they can.

"We have specific drills, reach for the ball when we're rushing the passer," Bower said. "So every time you see our arms go up as we're running by the quarterback, we're emphasizing small details like that. When we come free, we're going to rush, break up the quarterback's arm and force a fumble."

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