COLLEGE PARK, Md — The University of Maryland’s football team has high hopes for its first season playing in the Big Ten.

The Terrapins are counting on C.J. Brown to lead the way.

The 2009 Seneca Valley graduate is in the middle of his final season of college football, his sixth year with the program. He was red-shirted as a freshman and was awarded a sixth year of eligibility after an ACL tear derailed his 2012 season.

“I definitely get the grandpa jokes from a lot of the younger players,” said Brown, who recently turned 23. “It’s funny.”

Opposing defenses don’t laugh when giving up a big play to Brown, be it on the ground or through the air.

He has rushed for 263 yards and five scores while passing for 1,067 yards with seven touchdowns and four interceptions this season as Maryland is 4-2 overall and 1-1 in conference play.

The team’s pro-style offense is still a work in progress, according to Brown, who takes snaps from the shotgun formation most of the time.

“The biggest thing for us is to be consistent,” he said. “Sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot with things like turnovers. As long as we continue to get better every week, the big plays will be there.”

When the Terps are firing on all cylinders on offense, they can score from anywhere on the field.

One of Brown’s touchdown runs covered 75 yards and two of his scoring passes have gone for 90 yards (to Brandon Ross) and 77 (Stefon Diggs).

“I believe we have the best wide receivers in college football,” Brown said. “It starts with Diggs and Deon Long. They have stepped up this season and the other guys look up to them. With the weapons we have on the outside and in the backfield, a 6-yard hitch pass can go 60 yards. Any play can go to the house.”

Maryland, under the direction of fourth-year head coach Randy Edsall, opened Big Ten play with a 37-15 win over Indiana Sept. 27. The Terps were overwhelmed by Ohio State the following week, 52-24.

Saturday’s home contest against Iowa will be the team’s first game since the lopsided defeat.

“We spent the bye week getting back to basics,” Brown said. “It came at a good time because we had been going hard for 10 straight weeks, starting with camp. That was our first break.”

Brown has missed parts of two games this season with an injury to his left (non-throwing) wrist. That pales in comparison with the knee injury he sustained in 2012 and the broken collarbone that cut short his season in 2010.

“It’s definitely tough to put injuries like that out of your mind,” he said. “But you can’t play scared. As long as you’re going 100 percent, that’s the best way to protect yourself.”

Brown, who holds the program record for 100-yard rushing games from a quarterback (eight), made his first start for Maryland in 2011.

Last season, he rushed for 576 yards and 12 scores while throwing for 2,242 yards and 13 touchdowns. He passed for 197 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-20 loss to Marshall in the Military Bowl last December. He and his teammates are hoping for bigger and better things this year.

“The Big Ten championship,” he replied. “That’s what we’re striving for.”