Bruce Ely/The Oregonian

At Pac-12 media days in Hollywood last month, The Oregonian/OregonLive surveyed the conference's star players on a range of topics.

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The players surveyed are now some of the conference's stars. But when they were kids, they looked up to players in the spotlight, too, just like them. Which college football players hooked them on the game when they were in their formative years?

Some expanded their answers to include teams, and even athletes who didn't play college football. Regardless, all meant something to the current generation of Pac-12 stars.

Here are their answers.

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Oregon State RB Ryan Nall

"Probably not the best thing to be saying because he played for the enemy: LaMichael James. At that time I was still rooting for people, the state of Oregon. It was before I was a recruit. I was thinking I would be a basketball player at the time.

"... I love watching (James). He caught me like, wow, if I could play college football I want to be like him, scoring touchdowns and doing things like that. He was my favorite college football player."

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California RB Tre Watson

"Reggie Bush. He's my favorite player of all-time. That's why I wear No. 5. This year that's why me and (teammate Vic Enwere) we always say we're going to be like Reggie and LenDale White. It's thunder and lightning, man."

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Oregon QB Justin Herbert

"Kellen Clemens. That's when I started watching Oregon football. Kellen Clemens, Jeremiah Masoli, Dennis Dixon."

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Colorado LB Derek McCartney

McCartney's grandfather, Bill, coached the Buffaloes from 1982-94, and some of his earliest memories of college football include the Buffs.

"I grew up a Buffaloes fan so it's hard to say another team kind of influenced me. I loved the Buffs. The 2001 team was the earliest team I can remember because I was really young, I wasn't even alive when my grandpa coached them. The 2001 team was a lot of fun with the 62-36 game against Nebraska. A historic moment. I remember being there."

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Greg Wahl-Stephens

Oregon LB Troy Dye

"One player I liked to watch a lot was (late Miami safety) Sean Taylor, just the way he brings attitude to the game. Another player was my older brother (Tony Dye, pictured) who played at UCLA. He was one of the main reasons why I wanted to play college football."

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Arizona State DL JoJo Wicker

"(USC running back) Joe McKnight. Unfortunately he passed away, but I watched him. When I was 10, 11 I went to the USC camp and we stayed overnight there. That's the biggest player I remember at SC."

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UCLA LB Kenny Young

"I’d have to say guys like Ray Lewis, Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Serena Williams, people like that inspired me."

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Utah DL Filipo Mokofisi

"Patrick Willis. He was probably my favorite player. He was a beast over there (at Ole Miss) and watching him in the NFL, too, that was my favorite player by far."

What Mokofisi remembered most about Willis were his “takedown slams.”

“That’s what hooked me,” Mokofisi said. “Just the nastiness, the powerfulness. He just did not care. Slam the guy.”

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