Artur Sitkowski rallied the troops on Wednesday night, delivering fiery messages to the Rutgers fanbase and, more importantly, recruits who are considering the Scarlet Knights despite this season's struggles.

The true freshman quarterback was the guest interview on head coach Chris Ash's weekly radio show. When host Chris Carlin asked Sitkowski what his message to recruits is, the Old Bridge native fired up the crowd at Quaker Steak and Lube in Edison in a Steve Pikiell-esque manner.

"Come be a program-changer," Sitkowski said. "Come to Rutgers and be different. Why go to a school that's like a Michigan or an Ohio State that's already been developed? You're just another name. Come to Rutgers and be the first-ever to do something. Do something that no one thinks you can do.

"Be the kid that has a statue in front of that stadium. Why not us? Why not you? You're home in front of friends and family. I'm living a dream right now. I'm more than blessed to be here, and I tell the kids, 'Listen, why can't it be you? Why can't you be the one to come and change this program? And have your statue in front of that stadium someday?'

"Some kids are scared of that, like, 'Whoa, I'm the guy?' And some kids embrace that. You want the kids that embrace that. You want the kids that love football, and they want to live football every single day. Those are the kids we want, with the mentality to go out and attack every single day. If that's not you, don't come here."

Sitkowski told Carlin and co-host Eric LeGrand that being a home state player means "I have a fire in my belly that ... you have no idea."

"It means the world to me. It makes me want to work harder when I get in that weight room, want to watch more film," Sitkowski said. "When I go out there, I play fearlessly for one reason, because I've got the 'R' on my chest. I'm going to go out there and give it everything I've got. I don't care who we're playing. I'm shaking right now. It means a lot. It means a lot."

Sitkowski is one of three true freshman who have started games this year for Rutgers, the others being running back Isaih Pacheco and cornerback Avery Young, and one of 15 true freshman that have seen game action this season. Sitkowski said that youth movement is what gives him hope for the future, despite the team's current 1-8 record.

"We've got a couple of freshmen, sophomores that are playing. Most of the o-line is coming back next year," Sitkowski said. "But we've got to work hard when the offseason comes, and we've still got three games to play, so I'm not going to get into that. But it depends on how bad we want it. And that's my job, to push these guys to get our goal done.

"I'm very excited for what the future holds. We're hungry. We know we can do a lot better."

Sitkowski's message to Rutgers fans?

"Strap your seatbelts in, because we're ready to go," he said. "We're going to take off soon. It's going to be a lot of hard work. I promise you, we're going to work our tails off this offseason. We're going to develop into a good football team, a disciplined football team. We're going to work hard and play hard with attitude and effort. I can guarantee that."

James Kratch may be reached at jkratch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JamesKratch. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.