Happy birthday to App State great and three-time National Champion kicker Julian Rauch, who turns 23 today.

NUMBER: No. 4 while in Steelers camp, but 91 at App State.

JOB: Splitting uprights, nailing extra points, beating Michigan.

KEY STATS: He owns most of the kicking records at App State, including consecutive extra points season (111) and career (61) and extra points season (76) and career (247). He is also second all-time in points scored at App State (373).

REASON TO LOVE HIM: 24 yards with 26 seconds left. ‘Nuff said.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Having one jersey already retired. (Time for another?)

REALITY CHECK QUOTE: In today’s Gaston Gazette - “Past history indicates that kickers and punters last through the preseason just to keep the starters from having to do all the work. I’m going in with the attitude of trying to make the team, but want to get the most out of my experience no matter what happens.”

SUGGESTED THEME SONG: Yes you can!

BIRTHDAY WISH: Full-time employment come September 7.

SUGGESTED GIFT: A job closer to home.

The annaul SoCon “Guess the Best” contest continues today. You can listen to a slew of interviews via the App State announcing crew till noon.

The coaches poll is out and, wow. App State is the near consensus No. 1, but check out Nos. 2 and 3 - Elon(!) and Wofford(!).

Where for art thou, Georgia Southern and Furman. Oh, there you are.

Never thought the day would come - Terriers trump Eagles. And Elon beats near everybody. (Keep your chin up Lil’ Sammy. Your day may come)

AE and Pierre Banks take the league’s top preseason individual awards. The media doughnut poll and picks will be out later today.

After a self imposed major media blackout, the SoCon unveiled today that, yes, there is indeed a league media day this week. Tomorrow all the league’s coaches, media reps and athletics officials will get together and play “Guess The Best.”

Translation - preseason polls and preseason all-league teams. Joy!

This is all going down in Greenville, S.C., but thanks to App State you can be there in spirit.

The Appalachian ISP Sports Network kicks off its coverage of the 2008 football season when it broadcasts live from the annual Southern Conference Football Rouser on Wednesday in Greenville, S.C. Coverage runs from 9 a.m. to noon with free video and audio streaming available exclusively at GoASU.com.

Expect App State to be consensus No. 1, with AE the choice for player of the year. The real unknown is the basement. Who would you guess finishes last, The ‘Whee or Lil’ Sammy? (No offense meant to UTC, of course).

A few days ago the AppFan Store added these awesome “Ultimate Victory” prints to its inventory. The initial response was so strong, our good friends at New Life Art shared some photos of Superman and Coach Moore signing a select number of these prints - 100 500 to be exact.

Last week I made a rare newsstand purchase of a Sports Illustrated. I opened it up, and it rained App State on my feet.

I don’t have the heart to throw them away.

AppFan Charles saw AppFan Jason’s Google map, and had to submit his own. It’s been under construction since June. Pretty cool.

The Redskins opened training camp this week, and App State great Kerry Brown is walking the sidelines. He’s easy to spot. He’s the guy carrying two helmets.

One ain’t his.

“This one’s Jon Jansen’s,” Brown said, referring to the Redskins’ veteran tackle who is a–gulp–Michigan alum. “He came over to me and said, ‘Hey, rook. Carry my helmet. Where’s Appalachian State now?’”

Ouch.

“It’s great to have Kerry here,” Jansen said. “I don’t like carrying my helmet.”

Oh, the fun of rookie hazing. As Brown tells another paper, “As a matter of fact, all of the guys I’ve beaten for NCAA championships are giving me a hard time too.”

So who could those guys be? At least five - Nehemiah Broughton of The Citadel, Derrick Frost of Northern Iowa, and Wolverines Jansen, Todd Collins and Tyler Ecker. (Chad Rinehart of UNI is a fellow rookie).

That’s a lot of App State grudges on one roster. Maybe LaRon Landry can soon join them.

Great trivia question here. When was the last time two defending outright national champions faced off?

Predicting the Battle Royal in the Bayou. Sounds like a winner.

In case you’ve missed those new billboards. Every year it seems we get Moore and Moore of these.

KBS gets money from the state. Somehow ECU gets three times as much.

App State makes ACC media day. Tee-hee.

SoCon media day is Wednesday. Shhhhhh! It’s a secret.

SI’s top college photos of 2007. Kinda blurry.

From the home of The Rock to the Shamrocks. Good luck coach.

SoCon commish to Lil’ Sammy. Enjoy those gas prices, suckers. (I’ve taken some liberty with the exact quote)

Looking good. KBS isn’t the only stadium getting some massive work done.

As fast as the trophies pile up, so too it appears with App State-related books. Another one is due this September, and it’s all about a man named Moore.

Coming soon - King of the Mountain.

In King of the Mountain, journalist Dick Brown traces Moore’s life from his playing days in Texas to his climb through the coaching ranks and his tenure in his adopted home in the North Carolina mountains. Appalachian fans celebrate Moore’s three consecutive national championships beginning in 2005, but they may have forgotten the calls for his head just a year earlier. And all those millions who admired Moore’s gracious handling of the epic Michigan win are likely unaware that he nearly died one night when his plane was forced to land on a country road during a recruiting trip, or that he gave up coaching in the prime of life, or that he quit a high-paying job to begin his football comeback as an unpaid assistant.

The highlight of this story? It’s not done yet. T-minus 40 days and counting till the next chapter.

Happy belated birthday to our coach Jerry Moore, who turned 69 Friday.

NUMBER: Number 1, of course!

JOB: Making champions, on and off the field.

KEY STATS: 194 career coaching wins. 167 wins at App State. Three consecutive NCAA national titles. Six SoCon titles. Three AFCA Coach of the Year awards. One Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award. Five SoCon CotY awards. A 76% winning percentage in SoCon games and 70% winning percentage overall while at App State.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Kinda hard to beat September 1, 2007. But December 16, 2005 was mighty sweet too. And let’s not forget 1995 …. oooohhhhh 1995.

REASONS TO LOVE HIM: Too many to count, but here’s a few.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “The difference between not winning a game and not losing a game was only one thing: effort. The team with more talent didn’t win a game. The team with great effort didn’t lose.” (From News & Observer)

BEST MOORE FAN SIGN 2008: This still makes me laugh.

BIRTHDAY WISH: That he retains that “zeal” a few more seasons.

SUGGESTED GIFT: A new name - Jerry Moore Stadium.