CLARION — Through four years of high school football at Karns City, all Kory Kusick knew was winning.

The Gremlins were 29-13 with four District 9 playoff appearances during Kusick's years there. As a three-year letterman and a 2005 Keystone-Shortway Athletic Conference Lineman of the Year, he was right in the middle of that success.

Karns City football is still winning.

"I went to the game at Moniteau the other night, but just to socialize,"Kusick said. "I didn't even watch the game. I knew we were going to win.

"At Karns City, winning is expected. It's almost a foregone conclusion that it's going to happen."

Now Kusick is among a number of young players trying to bring that same feeling to Clarion University.

Standing 6-feet-2, 226 pounds as a senior at Karns City, Kusick is now 6-3, 255 and is starting at nose guard for the Golden Eagles. But Clarion has lost 17 of 18 games since his arrival.

His defense is allowing 44.6 points, 293 yards rushing and 500 total yards per game, ranking last in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in all three categories.

"It's been rough,"Kusick admitted. "I'm not used to this. And I don't want to get used to it.

"I came here to win a PSACchampionship. We have a bunch of freshmen and sophomores here with that goal and we're going to get it done."

Clarion coach Jay Foster is starting numerous freshmen and sophomores On defense, 13 freshmen and four sophomores rotate into the Golden Eagles' lineup. Another 12 freshmen and three sophomores play regularly on offense.

"I'm putting those kids through hell right now. I know that,"Foster said. "I have to rotate guys in because at this stage of their physical development, their bodies can't take that constant pounding for 60 minutes. But they're standing up to it. They're getting better because of it.

"These are the players who are going to turn around Clarion football. It's a building process and we're on the ground floor."

Kusick has compiled five assists, three tackles for loss and two sacks this season. He recorded seven hits, two tackles for loss and a sack in limited duty as a freshman last year.

"What hurts is Kory should only be a redshirt freshman right now,"Foster said. "I needed these guys right away and couldn't afford to redshirt them last year.

"He's facing linemen every week who are physically more mature and powerful than he is right now. It's not always going to be that way."

Kusick admitted he thought he would step into Clarion's lineup and make an immediate impact, given his successful high school career.

"I expected the transition to be easy,"he said. "When I got on the practice field for the first time, I thought to myself, 'Wow! I never saw a 300-pound guy move that fast!' That's when I realized every player at this level was a standout in high school."

Clarion has not won the PSACWest since 2000. The Golden Eagles haven't posted a winning season since finishing 7-4 in 2002. They've lost 40 of 50 games since.

"I remember Coach Foster sitting in our living room talking to me during a recruiting visit,"Kusick said. "He talked about his plan, the future of the program, building it with young kids and wanting me to be a piece of that puzzle.

"I'm glad I'm here and I'm not planning on leaving here disappointed."