Louisville’s Lamar Jackson relived the moment, if only for a moment.

He remembers the 61-yard touchdown run that put the Cardinals up 20-7 in the first quarter of last year’s Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl. He even waved his arm up and down while trying to recapture that during ACC Media Day on July 22.

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“I was having fun then, because the crowd was in it,” Jackson said. “It was crazy. It was a crazy night.”

That was part of a two-game stretch to close the season in which Jackson established himself as Louisville’s starting quarterback with 769 total yards (357 pass, 412 rush) and seven TDs in wins against Kentucky and Texas A&M.

Those two games are the launch point. Jackson then made waves by going 24 of 29 for 519 yards and eight TDs in the Cardinals’ spring game. Every year a Heisman Trophy dark horse seemingly comes out of nowhere. Those are some context clues that suggest Jackson could be that guy if Louisville can make its move against Clemson and Florida State in the ACC Atlantic Division this season.

The sophomore quarterback didn’t expect to attend Media Day, but he quickly didn’t waste time making an impression.

“How am I doing?” he asked in a chalky voice with arms outstretched in the ball room after taking his first few questions. “I’m doing good, right?”

“He’s going to be the face of our program for a while,” Louisville coach Bobby Petrino said. “He needed to come here and experience this and enjoy it and have a smile on his face.”

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Jackson arrived at Louisville as a four-star freshman from Boynton Beach (Fla.) High School, and the first challenge was the playbook.

Jackson didn’t have a written playbook in high school. He would meet in the coach’s office, come up with the plays for that week then run through those signals with the receivers. Everything was predicated on sign language and run out of the pistol offense.

He spent a large chunk of his first year simply learning Petrino’s extensive playbook. Both Jackson and Petrino found a way to translate the “visual” part of the playbook into motion.

“The thing that stood out to me so quickly and early in practice was his ability to throw the ball, his vision, the things he could see down the field, snap his wrist and get the ball there,” Petrino said.

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Yet it was in game situations, including some where he said “you didn’t need to look at the film” where Jackson relied too much on his ability as a playmaker with his feet. Jackson would see that when he was watching film from the 20-13 win against N.C. State. Jackson had good protection and decided to run anyway, and that resulted in a sack.

“I feel like I’ll run less this year because I know what I’m doing out there,” Jackson said before a pause. “And the playbook.”

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Petrino is known for his work with quarterbacks and as an innovative play-caller, and he heaped more plays on Jackson this spring while tweaking the offense with new offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway. Jackson now plans on spending more time under center — “50-50” in his words — in 2016.

That’s by design. Petrino took the running game away from Jackson this spring in an effort to keep him in the pocket as much as possible. Down-field vision in the face of a pass rush was emphasized. Jackson can take off anytime. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry with 11 rushing TDs last season.

“If we can get him to throw the ball down the field and be accurate with his passes, then that will open up his ability to run the ball even more,” Petrino said.

That’s led to an interesting player-coach dynamic. Jackson said Petrino is a perfectionist, especially in practice. Petrino said he could be yelling at Jackson, and the quarterback will be smiling the whole time.

“He really understands the concepts,” Petrino said. “He can sit down, you can draw up a play and he can draw out every route where everybody is at and know his progression ... He can picture it.”

That “visual” is in place.

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Jackson left the podium for the breakout session at ACC Media Day and faced the obligatory four or five questions about Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson.

“I don’t really focus on him,” Jackson said the first time before automating similar answers each time Clemson came up. “He’s a great player, though. I’m just focused on my team.”

It wasn’t done in an off-putting manner. Jackson says he doesn’t watch television. When shown a Louisville football notebook with his picture on the cover he said, “I’m gonna have to get my mom one of those.” He seemed comfortable in the spotlight.

It’s not just Clemson and Florida State, although Louisville is 0-4 against those teams and has lost those games by an average of 10 points per game the last two seasons. Virginia and Pitt also beat the Cardinals. There’s more than one team to beat, and there’s always skepticism.

That’s where Jackson used a different interpretation on a one-liner the most legendary athlete ever born in Louisville made famous to address what’s coming next.

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“Without criticism, it’s just going to be like flying around just like a butterfly and just float,” Jackson said. “I’m comfortable. I’m just being myself. I guess it comes with it when you are the quarterback of the school.”

Jackson handled that attention at the end of last season, saw what that could lead to in the bowl win against Texas A&M and in the spring game and embraced the spotlight at ACC Media Day. He’s a Heisman Trophy contender-in-waiting, and he’s comfortable in the moment, if only for a moment.

Is Petrino comfortable with Jackson and that playbook?

“Sure, because we’re going to add more plays,” Petrino said.