As a youngster at Saint Louis School, budding quarterback Marcus Mariota remembers watching intently the flickering film of former Crusaders quarterback Jason Gesser.

But his ears perked up when somebody said Gesser, who led Washington State to a Rose Bowl, finished seventh in Heisman Trophy balloting in 2002.

"Imagine," Mariota would say later, "somebody from here — from Hawaii and Saint Louis — competing for the Heisman?"

Years later he would relish and find further inspiration in the candidacies of University of Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan, who finished third in 2007, and Manti Te’o, the Notre Dame linebacker from Punahou School who was the 2012 runner-up.

"It gave us the realization that, maybe, we could have the opportunity if we worked hard enough," said Mariota, who will be announced Monday as a Heisman finalist and will go to New York City this week as the odds-on favorite to take home the trophy emblematic of the best player in college football. The winner will be announced Saturday in ceremonies on national TV.

The 6-foot, 4-inch, 219-pound Mariota punched his ticket there as the nation’s most efficient passer and triggerman of the No. 3-ranked (Associated Press poll) Ducks.

The three-time All-Pac-12 quarterback has 38 touchdown passes and just two interceptions while completing 68.2 percent of his attempts this season, and is a major reason why Oregon is 12-1 and will play unbeaten Florida State (13-0) on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in a semifinal of the inaugural College Football Playoff.

He also leads in points responsible for (318), is second in touchdown passes, fifth in passing yards (3,783) and tops in oohs and ahhs.

In three years as a starter, he has guided the Ducks to a 34-5 record.

Surrounding the Heisman festivities will be appearances as a finalist for the Davey O’Brien national quarterback award, the Maxwell Award, Walter Camp Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award.

"I think Marcus has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country since, (well), probably the day he took his first start (2012)," Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said. "If you didn’t have to play him, you’d love watching him."

A HIDDEN GEM

Mark Helfrich knew what he had seen but still wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Was what he had just witnessed at the Crusaders’ practice field in 2009 really too good to be true?

It was the spring of Mariota’s junior year and Helfrich, then an Oregon assistant, had watched the young quarterback throw spirals through a stiff wind atop Kalaepohaku and win every sprint in a Saint Louis practice.

Helfrich remembers calling then-Oregon head coach Chip Kelly and telling him, "the guy’s unbelieveable."

Then, "All of a sudden it was like I’m thinking, ‘What am I missing? How is this guy so good that every school in the world isn’t here (after him) right now, too?’ " Helfrich said.

Eventually, once word circulated of Mariota’s commitment to the Ducks, schools would come in large numbers and heavy pursuit.

UH called him after its "junior day" and asked Mariota why he hadn’t attended. "I told them nobody had invited me," Mariota said.

The dilemma for a lot of teams was that Mariota wasn’t a starter until his senior season with the Crusaders, having backed up Jeremy Higgins as a junior.

"Marcus just needed an opportunity," said Darnell Arceneaux, the Crusaders’ head coach then. And that wouldn’t come until his senior year, when Higgins went off to Utah State (and later UH).

"Higgins was older, ahead of him and having a great season, completing something like 75 percent of his passes," Arceneaux said. "It was hard for Marcus to wait, but it was good for him to work hard. It made him hungry."

Mariota, who had already impressed Helfrich with his dedication and effort at practice, "worked even harder," Arceneaux recalls. "He never complained or got down. He worked and worked so that when the opportunity finally came, he was ready."

It paid off in an 11-1 season and the Crusaders’ first state title in seven years.

"I think it helped prepare him for when he got to Oregon," Arceneaux said. " We talked about seizing the opportunity when it comes … and he did."

SEIZING THE DAY

Opportunity knocked for Mariota his redshirt freshman year at Oregon, when the two-year starting quarterback, Darron Thomas, inexplicably left to make a surprise early (and ultimately unsuccessful) leap for the NFL.

Speculation persists to this day that Thomas felt his reign would be threatened by the rapidly blossoming Mariota.

What wasn’t debated was that the resulting eight-month competition between Mariota and sophomore Bryan Bennett, who had backed up Thomas, was won decisively by Mariota. Bennett eventually transferred.

"Marcus," Helfrich recalls, "had instant credibility with the team."

"It wasn’t just Mariota’s physical abilities or his quick grasp of the offense that helped win them over, either," said three-time All-Pac-12 center Hroniss Grasu. "It was the way he worked and the way he treated people. You couldn’t help but respect the guy. You knew he was legit from the start."

Grasu was a high school teammate and Oregon roommate with Bennett. "I’m still very close with Bryan, but on the field I was rooting for the best quarterback," Grasu said. "Our whole team felt that way. And that was Marcus."

GOOD AS IT GETS

"The Heisman Memorial Trophy annually recognizes the outstanding college football player whose performance best exhibits the pursuit of excellence with integrity. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work."

— Mission statement,
The Heisman Trophy Trust

Helfrich, in his second year as the Ducks’ head coach, is frequently asked if Mariota is really as wholesome, humble and dynamic as advertised.

"I tell them that whatever you’ve seen and heard, well, the real version is better. This guy is just — and I’ve said it many times — he is almost make-believe," Helfrich said. "He’s the kind of a guy you’d like to marry your daughter."

Helfrich said, "I’m just — as everybody is, I’m sure — a huge fan of Marcus. I’m a huge fan of him as a person, first and foremost. Being around this guy everyday makes me better. He makes everybody in our program better every single day. He challenges you to re-think everything and improve," Helfrich said.

For example, Helfrich said, "if I’m the back-up left guard, I want to play my tail off for this guy."

Even in his one reported indiscretion, a speeding ticket this fall, Mariota came across as humble. "Mr. Mariota was polite and respectful, he was professional and took the citation appropriately and acted appropriately," state police Lt. Josh Brooks told the Oregonian newspaper.

Mariota has graduated with a 3.22 grade-point average in general sciences and is a second-team All-Pac-12 academic selection. He works with the Boys and Girls Club in Eugene regularly.

When Mariota chose to return to Oregon this season and forgo an opportunity to declare early for the NFL Draft, where he likely would have been a high first-round pick, the conference made him the centerpiece of its preseason science education program.

Grasu said, "He treats everybody with respect, whether you are a walk-on or a starter. He opens doors for people, he gives guys a pat on the back when they are down. He’s the perfect teammate."

So much so that Helfrich said "When we can have some fun with Marcus you have to take it because you almost never get a chance. So, when there is any sort of door open you have to take advantage of it."

When he appeared on the front of Sports Illustrated and other magazines this year, coaches and teammates began calling him "Cover Boy," Helfrich said.

Mariota handled it in what Helfrich has come to call "typical Marcus fashion: ‘oh, shucks, gosh, gee whiz,’ and laughs."

After Mariota led the Ducks to the Pac-12 championship Friday, Helfrich said, "If this guy isn’t what the Heisman Trophy is all about, I’m in the wrong profession."