Ian Sluss was a decorated high school player coming out of Rancho Buena Vista High School in Vista, CA, earning All-League honors as linebacker and fullback twice and All CIF as a linebacker. He was twice team MVP on a squad that went to the CIF finals his senior year.
    
He also earned North County academic honors. What wasn't there to like?  Collegiate recruiters would be beating a path to his door, right?
    
It didn't happen. A couple of coaching changes upset the normal flow of communications and “I didn't get any looks. It was disappointing,” the 6'0, 225-pound Sluss recalled.
    
So, he enrolled at small University of Redlands northeast of Los Angeles, where he spent two years playing Division III football, picking up all-conference honors both years as a linebacker.
     
Although he's from a very close knit family, “I didn't want to go to our local community college because I wanted to get away from home.”
    
Overall, he enjoyed Redlands, but couldn't get past the idea that he had the ability to play at a higher level.
    
Then, “there were some layoffs in the family and the school was expensive. That, and there was this fire in me wanting to play at a higher level, it drove me to leave,” he said.
    
Sluss went home, found a job, took a semester off and spent hours training, getting stronger. He saw it as a huge risk.
    
“It was risky deciding to leave school. I was very happy at Redlands. I had to take a semester off and didn't much want to do that,” he said.
    
He began sending out information trying to catch the attention of college coaches. A friend, with whom he'd played at Redlands, was at Oregon State and recommended him to the PSU coaching staff. He was offered a walk-on spot. “When I came here, I felt this was the place for me. I was really grateful for the opportunity to show what I could do.”
    
What he could do, it turned out, was start the last nine games of the 2011 season (he had to redshirt his first year because he was moving up — a good thing because “I had a lot to learn”), becoming a force on defense, including a team-high 13.5 tackles for loss, the most by a Viking in five seasons. There also were 3.5 quarterback sacks and two forced fumbles on the way to being named second team All-Big Sky Conference.
    
Through five games this season, he is leading the Big Sky Conference in tackles with 58.
    
Nothing had been easy for Sluss, and there was a last bump before he started his career as a Viking. He injured his ankle and missed the first game last season, not getting to play until the second game against Northern Arizona.
    
“That was exciting, I'd finally reached my goal to play at a higher level.”
    
Sluss' play has earned him praise from the Viking coaching staff and Linebacker Coach Lester Towns, who has only worked with Sluss since last spring, said “he's always graded out high. He consistently grades out highest of the group. We need him.” And, that's saying something considering the talented Viking linebacker corps this year.
    
His “leadership stands out. He's very smart and makes the people around him better because he's so smart. He's quick and strong, always working in the weight room. He knows how to move and is tough. Even if he's hurt, he wants to get out there.  I have to say 'no'… and he understands,” said Towns.
    
From an athletic family, Sluss began playing football at the age of seven, the first time he was able to put on pads and play Pop Warner ball. Up to that time, he did what most of his friends did… soccer, hockey, baseball. He followed his now 24-year-old brother Shane into football, along with most of his friends.
    
However, had he chosen to stick with a different sport, he might have had to find somewhere else to live. Besides Shane, Sluss' father Todd, an uncle and a grandfather all played high school football. “We're a football family,” he said.
     
In high school, Sluss played both ways, running back and linebacker. Running back was fun…”the touches, the glory…that is fun.”  Linebacker provides a different kind of satisfaction, “getting the job done. I know it sounds weird, but I like running around and hitting people, making a physical play, trying to stop what the offense is trying to do.”
    
He credits his family and Redlands linebacker coach Vinny Fazio with keeping his playing career on track.
    
“I've had tremendous support from my family, emotionally and financially. They've made everything possible for me. And Coach Fazio got me interested in playing at Redlands. He opened my eyes to the opportunity to play football and helped me understand that I could play at a high level,” he said.
    
This year, his mother (Lori Hoskins), who lives in San Diego, took the PSU schedule and, scouring for inexpensive flights and hotel “specials”, has made plans to attend every game. His dad recently told him he hopes to attend games for the rest of the season, including a five-hour drive to watch him play at Northern Arizona.
    
Brother Shane is an Army Ranger, who has done three tours of overseas duty (“I can't stop bragging about my brother. I'm so proud of what he's done”) attended the TCU game last year. 27-year-old sister Erika played softball at LSU and is teaching high school in Louisiana.
    
A social science major, Sluss is on track to graduate at the end of winter term. Then… he's undecided. First choice would be to continue his football career at the next level (“I'd like to be a little taller...but there are a lot of opportunities out there.”) and coaching or teaching have some pull. His dad is in law enforcement and he's thought about that.
    
On the football field this year, his goal is to just get better.  He'd like to be “one of the best, or maybe THE best linebacker in the Big Sky. I want to become better all around, able to play in any sort of scenario.”
    
He sees himself as easy going off the field. “I'm a different guy on the field. I like to have fun, but I'm very intense on the field.”  He likes to body board, surf and skateboard, but has been so focused on school and football and he hasn't even visited the Oregon coast yet (“I'm told it's beautiful. In California, I live 15 minutes from the ocean.”).
    
“Fun” extends to playing golf with roommate Justin Monahan, “although we haven't had much time for that recently.”
    
For Ian Sluss, “there've been a lot of bumps in the road on the way to PSU… no looks out of high school, taking a big risk leaving Redlands with no prospects of getting picked up for a while. But, I've tried to take advantage of every opportunity. I've ended up in the right place at the right time. This is the biggest opportunity I've ever had and I want to take full advantage of it.”