Call him big Poppa – Safety Craig Loston emerges as a defensive leader. He’s just not the celebrating type.

Since Craig Loston’s arrival in 2009, the free safety has had moments of sheer brilliance. His tackles have been compared to the force of 18-wheelers. Last year, he recorded 55 of them, grabbed three picks and was voted to the AP All-SEC Second Team.

However, Loston has not had a full season under his belt until now.

At the beginning of this season, Loston told us he felt better than ever, now that his previous nagging injuries were gone. As we head into the final stretch, Loston has become the leader for the defense. In his fifth season under defensive coordinator John Chavis, you might expect him to sigh, “Finally.” But Loston is better than that. He is always calmly waiting to make that next tackle, that next big play.

And big plays should be in his future. He’s projected as one of the best safeties available for next year’s NFL draft.

Being from Houston, was LSU somewhere you always wanted to be?

Actually, no. I grew up an Oklahoma fan. My cousin, Brodney Pool, went there. LSU beat Oklahoma in the national championship when he [played] there. I was kind of upset. Going down the line, getting close to the end of my high school career, I faded away from Oklahoma and ended up looking at LSU. It was a school that slowly grew on me. The food was a plus, too. [Laughs] I’m blessed and happy that I chose this school.

Tell me about the nickname “Poppa.”

My mom had two girls before me. She said when she was blessed to have a boy, she was going to dress him with hats. A couple of months later, I came, and she dressed me with hats, and she said I looked like a little old man. She said I was her “poppa.” It stuck around. I get called that often. When I first got here, people would call me Craig, and I never used to answer to that. I’m just so used to being called “Poppa.”

Last year, you got a lot of attention with that 100-yard return. Tell me what that moment was like.

I wasn’t expecting to get that pick because I was sitting inside. When I got it, it was a relief. To take it 100 yards, to join with those two other guys that did that, it’s a blessing. I just took the moment in, soaked it all up. I had to be humble about the situation. I know what I’m capable of doing, but I haven’t been able to show it. I felt like that situation was the first flash to get me going, but I have to keep working.

As a player, especially for LSU, you don’t get time to gloat or celebrate because each team you play is a contender.

Right. Week in and week out, you don’t want to live off hype from the last week. Here, we’ve got the 24-hour rule. Whether it’s a win, loss or whatever happened in that game, we get 24 hours. When that’s done, I don’t worry about it anymore. We’re big on that around here. For that to happen, it gets a lot of things out of the way. After that, we let it go.