C.J. Parish, here tackling Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney, would like more chances to be on the other side of these kind of collisions. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

There was a player down on the field, injured, late in the first half at the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game at Kino Stadium.

Someone mentioned that it was former Arizona Wildcats defensive end C.J. Parish. How could that be? His team was on offense. He was supposed to be on the sideline.

But it was Parish. When scouts asked him during practice last week to show them what he’s got at fullback, he gave them a nod and a smile and said, “Yes, sir.”

“Everybody has a dream to go to the next level,” Parish said after the Monday night’s game.

“So you do whatever you can to put yourself in that position. The scouts wanted to see me at fullback and we didn’t have one. I caught on fast. The plays came to me naturally. It was good.”

Parish played fullback at Arizona for three games in 2010 before suffering a season-ending concussion. The coaches moved him back to defense last year because of the Cats’ need at defensive end. He arrived from junior college as a linebacker.

“(Scouts) just want to see me catch more passes and do more stuff out of the backfield, but they definitely like me at fullback,” he said.

Parish, after a taking a hit on his left leg late in the first half Monday, ended up being fine, playing in the second half. He wasn’t the only ex-Cat trying out a new position.

Defensive end Mohammed Usman tried linebacker Monday night. Robert Golden, who played all over the secondary at Arizona, stuck solely at cornerback Monday night — which is his position of preference anyway.

He started at safety in 2009 and 2011, and at corner in 2010.

“Cornerback has always been my position,” Golden said.

“I always had to rotate at safety, and played a little nickel at Arizona, so I couldn’t really stick to one position. But when I came out here, I had fun with it and just got the job done.”

Golden had the game’s only interception, picking off a halfback pass from Penn State’s Stephfon Green.

“I kind of sensed something fishy,” Golden said of the trick play. “The guy threw the ball short and I was able to undercut it and make a play.”

Golden said he interviewed this week with about 20 to 25 NFL teams, adding, “I know the Miami Dolphins showed a lot of interest in me.” He said he’s headed to Dallas to train at the Michael Johnson Performance Center; Golden said ex-UA receiver Juron Criner is also training there.

Golden likely is the best prospect among the seven former Wildcats in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game. Truth is, almost all of the players in the game are facing long odds … but, on the other hand, the NFL is littered with productive late-round picks and undrafted free agents, so you never know.

Other ex-Arizona players in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game were linebacker Paul Vassallo, linebacker Derek Earls, fullback David Hill and receiver Gino Crump.

Crump had six catches for 45 yards, including a nine-yard catch on fourth-and-5 on his team’s game-winning drive. The Stripes team beat the Stars 24-21 on a touchdown pass with 22 seconds left.

Crump said he takes whatever scouts say to him “with a grain of salt,” but added: “Right now, I’m feeling really optimistic about my future in the NFL.”

Usman made two tackles, including one on a kickoff. Vassallo had one stop. Earls was not credited with a tackle.

“We rotated three groups,” Vassallo said of the linebackers. “As a player, you would like more reps, but it’s not easy with nine linebackers in an all-star game.”

Related: Late touchdown gives Stripes the win

Robert Golden breaks up a pass intended for ASU receiver Gerell Robinson in the November game. Photo by Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Former Arizona Wildcat defensive back Robert Golden will get a chance next week to start showing NFL scouts where he might end up in the secondary.

Golden is one of five ex-Cats who have committed to play in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game, which will be played Jan. 16 at Kino Stadium.

The others are defensive ends C.J. Parish and Mohammed Usman and linebackers Paul Vassallo and Derek Earls.

Golden figures to be the best pro prospect of the bunch, ranked 244th overall by NFLDraftScout.com, which would put Golden near the end of the seventh round. His position flexibility — he started at cornerback and safety for Arizona — could be a plus.

“I feel I can be anywhere between a corner and a nickel back,” Golden said. “As a safety, I like to get physical in the box and I feel I can cover just as well as any corner out there.”

Golden, playing safety as a senior, was third on the team in tackles with 69, including two for loss. He had one interception, followed by a spectacular 91-yard touchdown return at Washington.

Golden made 60 tackles, intercepted a pass and broke up 12 others as a junior, when he started at cornerback. He started all 13 games at safety in 2009, with 41 tackles and two interceptions.

Golden spent some time home in Fresno, Calif., working out with Pac-12 safeties T.J. McDonald (USC) and Tevin McDonald (UCLA) before starting training at Fischer Sports in Phoenix. For more than seven hours a day, he’s been working on technique, studying film and working on strength and conditioning.

“It’s an exciting time,” he said. “But I know I have to grind.”

Practices, which are open to the public, begin Wednesday as players begin to audition for the scouts.

“I’m going to prove I’m one of the hungriest players out there,” Golden said. “They won’t expect anything less than that from me.”

NOTES
Four former Arizona State Sun Devils have committed to play in the Casino Del Sol All-Star Game — safety Eddie Elder, long-snapper Cameron Kastl, linebacker Colin Parker and receiver Aaron Pflugrad. … The game, which begins at 6 p.m. on Jan. 16, will be televised by Fox Sports Arizona and some of its affiliates. … Former Arizona head coach Dick Tomey will be an assistant coach for the “Stripes” team, which will be led by former Fresno State coach Pat Hill. Hill worked for Tomey at UA in 1990 and 1991, serving as offensive coordinator in that second season. … For tickets, call 520-434-1367 or visit the http://casinodelsolallstargame.com/.

A shoulder injury kept Justin Washington on the sidelines for much of spring. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Here is the seventh part of our Arizona Wildcats football preview in collaboration with our Gannett partner, The Arizona Republic.

We write the words, and they have taken the cool photographs and put it all together in a slick presentation at azcentral.com.

Check back here and at azcentral.com every Friday as we roll out more of our preview every week, all the way into August.

This week: The defensive line.

INTRO

Arizona’s inexperience on the defensive line, combined with an even-greener group of offensive linemen, gives the Wildcats potential trouble in the trenches on both sides.

At least UA has a mostly proven centerpiece on defense with sophomore defensive tackle Justin Washington. Beyond that, the Cats mostly are looking for multiple breakout seasons from young tackles and older defensive ends who are trying to replace a trio of ends — Brooks Reed, Ricky Elmore and D’Aundre Reed — who were selected in the NFL Draft.

Former Wildcat standout and NFL defensive lineman Joe Salave’a is in his first season coaching the tackles.

“Joe is so fun because of his energy,” said defensive ends coach Jeff Hammerschmidt. “The guys really respect him and he knows exactly what he’s talking about.”

Justin Washington

Washington was a lightly regarded prospect from Cypress, Texas — he received two stars out of five from Rivals.com — who redshirted in the 2009 season. Not much was expected in 2010, but he forced his way into the rotation during fall camp and was so impressive that coach Mike Stoops made him a starter by the second game.

Using his quickness inside, Washington started nine games, finishing with 46 tackles, including 11.5 for loss and six sacks. One of his biggest plays was blocking an extra-point attempt in the Iowa game that kept the game tied.

With more than double the career starts from the rest of the defensive line combined, Washington will have to deal this season with being the focal point of opposing blocking schemes.

Sione Tuihalamaka should move into a full-time starting role this season. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Sione Tuihalamaka

Tuihalamaka was part of last season’s playing rotation, which loses starting tackle Lolomana Mikaele, who also was one of the team’s captains.

Tuihalamaka is in line to take over that starting spot after a season in which he played in every game, starting four, making 23 tackles. He had three tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks. Arizona doesn’t have that classic 300-pound run stuffer, but it has good athleticism from its interior positions on the defensive line.

Tuihalamaka, who had an offer out of high school from Nebraska, is the cousin of former Arizona linebacker Vuna Tuihalamaka and the brother of former UA defensive end Apai Tuihalamaka, who had to give up football after last season because of concussions.

C.J. Parish

One of the nice spring surprises for Arizona, Parish is trying to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility. He was granted a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending concussion in the third game of 2010.

Parish has been tried at linebacker, defensive end and fullback, but he considers end his natural position.

“I played it in high school; I played it in junior college,” he said. “I’ve played a lot of positions, but d-end is something I really favor.”

Parish’s biggest impact is expected to come against the pass, as he uses his speed to harass quarterbacks. But coach Mike Stoops says that Parish, perhaps a bit undersized, will hold up well against the run.

“He plays strong,” Stoops said. “He’s a very powerful kid.”

Mohammed Usman

Usman, a senior, will be trying to pack his Arizona career into his final season after he missed all but the final three games of last season. He had to serve an academic suspension following his transfer from junior college.

Usman played at the University of Houston as a true freshman in 2008, when he made 10 tackles. He looks good in a uniform, and a strong spring practice indicated that he will produce in the regular season.

Arizona needs that because the backups at defensive end have no playing experience at this level. The inexperience at end means the Wildcats will have to get more creative with their pass rush.

“We probably won’t be able to create as much pressure with four-man rushes,” coach Mike Stoops said in the spring.

Dan Pettinato will need to contribute as a redshirt freshman. Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Dan Pettinato

The redshirt freshman might not be ready for a starting role, but he’s expected to come up big as a rotation player this season behind a pair of senior ends.

He already has put on 45 pounds or so from his senior year of high school.

“I think the adjustment for him is just getting his foot speed quicker,” said defensive ends coach Jeff Hammerschmidt.

“But he’s going to be a good player because he works so hard. He could be one of the better guys for us. This year, we’re hoping he can get 10, 15 snaps per game or so — and play a bunch of special teams — and then next year hopefully he has a chance to be a three-year player for us.”

Lamar De Rego

Arizona tried defensive tackle Dominque Austin at end in the spring to give the front a bigger look against physical running teams. But with Austin battling academic issues this summer, there is even more pressure on De Rego, a junior college transfer, to perform right away.

De Rego made 8.5 tackles for loss, including 4.5 sacks last season, at San Jose Community College. He played high school ball at Kamehameha Secondary School in Honolulu.

He originally committed to Oregon State last December before switching to Arizona in January.

Other possibilities at defensive end are incoming freshmen Reggie Gilbert from Fairfax High in Laveen, and Dame Ndiaye, a raw, athletic prospect from San Diego’s Hoover High.

Aiulua Fanene

Fanene, the brother of Jonathan Fanene — who has played for the Cincinnati Bengals for the past six seasons — had an impressive spring to move into a probable role as a redshirt freshman defensive tackle.

Fanene was part of a 2009 “60 Minutes” profile about football in American Samoa. The CBS show showed the typical family values and work ethic of Samoan players, stating that Fanene did “a day’s work before school under the direction of his father, David.”

Arizona added Fanene after Signing Day 2010, and he went on to become the team’s defensive scout team MVP last season.

Kirifi Taula

Junior Willie Mobley, who began his career at Ohio State, was in line to be a backup at defensive tackle before suffering a post-spring torn ACL in a basketball game.

That opens the door for a number of prospects, including Taula, who picked the Wildcats over Washington and Oregon State near Signing Day in 2010. Scout.com rated Taula a four-star recruit and the 30th-best defensive tackle nationally.

While Taula is considered to have a bright future, Arizona has other possibilities among its inexperienced defensive tackles, including junior Chris Merrill, junior Jowyn Ward and freshman Saneilia Fuimaono.

C.J. Parish celebrates with linebacker Jake Fischer (left) after a defensive stop in Saturday's scrimmage.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

Arizona Wildcats senior C.J. Parish figured his career was over. He suffered a concussion last year against Iowa in the third game of the season. Symptoms lingered.

It wasn’t as if he was playing a lot anyway as a hybrid linebacker/defensive end/fullback.

“I was like, ‘This is all over,’” he said.

The bad news was the head injury kept him out of action for the rest of the season.

The good news is that the head injury kept him out of action for the rest of the season.

Because of that, Parish, who had never redshirted, qualified for a medical hardship. The NCAA approved the application, and Parish regained his season of eligibility.

Now, he is one of the big stories of Arizona’s spring ball.

The guy who seemingly had nowhere to play on last season’s team is penciled in as a starting defensive end after the loss of Brooks Reed, Ricky Elmore and D’Aundre Reed.

That’s all great for Parish and the Wildcats.

“Oh, I’m definitely happy,” said Parish, who transferred to Arizona from Blinn College in Brenham, Texas.

“Defensive end is my position. I played it in high school, I played it in junior college. I’ve played a lot of positions, but d-end is something I really favor. I like it a lot.”

There is something else he would like.

“Brooks’ spin move. I really want that,” Parish said with a smile.

“I’ve talked to him about that several times. He has tried to help me with that. That spin move he has is vicious. I tell him, ‘I want to get better, can you help me with that?’ He’s always willing to help me.’”

Parish (6-2, 245 pounds) still has a lot to learn about footwork and reading the placement of the offensive tackle and understanding momentum — some of the tricks of the trade with the spin move — but he does have some raw skills that should help Arizona replace its lost pass rush.

He was a sprinter at A&M Consolidated High School in College Station, Texas.

“We knew he had some speed,” said defensive ends coach Jeff Hammerschmidt.

“I tell you, he’s been a nice surprise. He’s a tough guy. A leader. I think he is going to be good for us. He’ll definitely help us against the passing game.”

Parish is part of an inexperienced group of ends that includes Mohammed Usman, redshirt freshman Dan Pettinato and senior Dominique Austin (who is trying to make the move from tackle). Usman played in only the final three games last season because of an academic suspension after transferring from junior college.

Help could arrive in the fall with junior college transfer Lamar De Rego and freshman Dame Ndiaye.

“Yeah, a lot of people are going to say, ‘You need experience, you need this, you need that,’” Parish said.

“But if you have a group that is willing to work, that is willing to put in the time, the blood, the sweat, the tears … then you can do anything. I don’t ever think anything about us being young. I just feel we’re all go-getters.”

C.J. Parish

There hasn’t been a lot of breaking news in Arizona’s football camp — not a lot of high-profile position battles or apparently serious injuries — so this will have to do:

C.J. Parish is now playing fullback!

It’s a small transaction and you might be wondering: Who is C.J. Parish?

You’d probably have to be a Wildcat fan of more than modest proportion to know the name. He was a junior college transfer last season from Blinn College in Texas, mostly seeing time on special teams. He had three tackles.

Parish entered camp as a backup to Jake Fischer at strongside linebacker, but second-string there is kind of a dead-end job. Arizona figures to play a lot of nickel coverage, putting in an extra defensive back (hello, Adam Hall) and taking out that linebacker spot.

So, the coaches have experimented with Parish, trying him at middle linebacker and as a pass-rush defensive end, and then they went into more of a mad scientist role and approached him about a week ago about switching sides of the ball.

His reaction?

“I said, ‘I have no problem with that,” Parish said. “When (running backs coach and co-offensive coordinator Seth Littrell) brought me over, it was instant; I liked it because it was physical.”

A fullback was born.

Well, maybe.

Perhaps Saturday night’s scrimmage will further illuminate any potential role Parish will have on offense. It never hurts to try new things. And there’s a bit of a need. Sophomore Taimi Tutogi — Arizona’s only true fullback on the roster — is out with an ankle injury suffered Aug. 9.

Parish (6-2, 235 pounds) delivered a couple of nice lead blocks in Thursday’s practice, and he stood out in Friday morning’s practice if only because he’s still wearing his blue jersey (for defense) among all the white-shirted offensive players.

Parish said he doesn’t have any background at fullback, although the Arizona coaches aren’t the first ones to be intrigued by his potential there.

“When I was in JUCO, I got recruited to play fullback for LSU, but I had never really played fullback and I had never really thought about it,” Parish said.

“I had always thought I was defense-only. But when the opportunity presented itself again, I said, ‘Might as well try it out and see how it feels.’ I like it so far. It’s what I expected …

“It is very physical. You get a chance to use your speed. You get to hit people. I love to hit people. I’m a physical person. So, it was perfect.”

There’s been no word yet from coach Mike Stoops about the timetable for Tutogi’s return. Could Parish be up to speed for the Sept. 3 opener at Toledo?

“If I get everything down, and Coach Littrell feels comfortable enough with me, then possibly I can get in there a little bit,” Parish said.

–Arizona will scrimmage Saturday night at Arizona Stadium at 6 p.m. The scrimmage is open to the public, and the team will hold an autograph session afterward.

Derek Earls is the new man in the middle for Arizona.
Photo by Brad Allis, WildcatSportsReport.com

Arizona released its post-spring depth chart Wednesday, and the starting linebacker spots came into clearer focus.

“Obviously, it’s the biggest question mark,” said Tim Kish, the linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator.

There’s no experience to speak of, but there are reasons for reasonable optimism.

“That’s the way we always look at it, with the glass half full,” Kish said.

What we know at the end of spring ball that we didn’t at the beginning is that mid-year junior college transfer Derek Earls should be solid at middle linebacker. And that sophomore Jack Fischer, from Ironwood Ridge High School, is a real find. And that … well, maybe that’s about it.

Here’s how Kish breaks it down:

MLB Derek Earls, Jr., 6-3, 235
Kish said Earls is a “little bit behind concepts-wise, but I have never had a guy come in from a juco situation and be able to transition that quickly at that position. He made a few mistakes, but he did them playing fast. If you’re going to make a mistake early, make it playing fast.

“He really has a tremendous upside. I’m really anxious to see how he will progress over the course of the summer and fall camp, and I anticipate him being a leader as well.”

SLB Jake Fischer, So., 5-11, 220
He doesn’t fit the physical profile that the UA coaches would like from their linebackers, but Kish seems to like everything else about Fischer, who mostly played on special teams as a true freshman. Fischer did enough to impress in spring, moving from the weak side to the strong side, even though he was limited with a foot problem. Kish said Fischer underwent surgery Tuesday to remove an extra bone from a foot.

“That’s a guy who is a little bit of a throwback,” Kish said.

“I tell you what, I just think his potential is great because he’s such a tough nut and he can do so many things for you. He can come off the edge. He can be in the gap in the core in run situations. He’s quick enough to help on the perimeter in pass situations. His flexibility and his toughness overshadow any lack of size he might have.”

WLB Paul Vassallo, Jr., 6-3, 240 and WLB R.J. Young, So., 5-11, 232
Vassallo and Young are listed as co-starters heading into the summer.

“Paul probably has not picked it up as quickly as Derek from a concepts standpoint and probably is not playing as fast right now, but I think potentially he could have the same impact as Derek,” Kish said.

“I think R.J. has been fairly steady all spring. I’m not giving either one of those guys the nod right now. I want them to compete all summer and in the offseason program and come out ready to compete again in the fall. Hopefully, the good news will be that both will help us.”

Also on the depth chart are redshirt freshman Trevor Erno and senior C.J. Parish at middle linebacker, and redshirt freshman Cordarius Golston at strong-side linebacker.

On Parish, Kish said: “He is going to play a little bit of defensive end for us. We’re trying to get that fast rush group going, and he could be a factor in that. I’m really pleased in the progression he’s made.”

Arizona has one incoming recruit at the position — freshman Kyle Benson from Tempe Corona del Sol High School — but he is recovering from a knee injury, which limits his chances of contributing in his first year.