ORONO – Throughout his football life, Levi Ervin never backed down from a challenge.

He did have to backpedal, though.

But now, the former Lisbon High School standout is learning to be a linebacker at the University of Maine, and the change is not only requiring him to think differently, but react differently.

“The new position is good for me. It fits me better,” said the 6-foot-2, 213-pound sophomore. “I played defensive back my whole life, so I always backed up on the snap. The hardest thing for me to adjust is to come forward on the snap.”

Head coach Jack Cosgrove approached Ervin about the change after last season, which he spent as a safety and special teams player. That allowed Ervin to go into off-season training focusing more on bulking up and learning the new position.

“I just tried to eat more and put a little weight on there. I’m not exactly the biggest of the linebackers,” he said. “I added about 10 pounds.”

Ervin is currently listed second at “rover” linebacker on the defensive depth chart, the same spot that former Mt. Blue linebacker Jordan Stevens started at last year before moving to starting defensive end for this season. Junior Mark Masterson is expected to start at rover when Maine opens it’s season at Iowa on Aug. 30.

Cosgrove said Ervin’s build, speed and skills proved to be better suited for linebacker than the secondary.

“He’s instinctively a better tackler, ball-pursuit guy than he is playing the ball in the air, although he’s improved tremendously at that,” Cosgrove said. “I think he’s done well there. I know he’s getting a ton of work because we feel like he’s going to play a key role for us as a linebacker and a special teams player.”

Ervin made 13 tackles last season, most of them on special teams, and is relishing the opportunity to contribute there again this year.

“I like special teams a lot. It’s a good chance to get out on the field, and you can make your mark out there,” he said.

Turf talk

The players spent Friday’s Media Day raving about the new FieldTurf playing surface that was installed on Morse Field at Alfond Stadium over the summer.

“It’s like we got a big Christmas present, the whole team,” senior All-American defensive end Jovan Belcher said.

The new surface, which will be officially unveiled at Maine’s home opener against Stony Brook on Sept. 13, replaces the old artificial turf that had been the surface for the last 10 years.

“It was like playing on asphalt,” Ervin said.

“Last spring, we would go out there on the field at five o’clock in the morning and there would be frost all over it. It would be so slippery,” said junior kicker John Moloney of Farmington. “That was a green concrete mat. It was awful. And this stuff’s great. Top of the line.”

Cosgrove has said the new surface will have several benefits, including cutting back on injuries and looking more attractive to potential recruits.

Perhaps the chief beneficiary of the FieldTurf this year will be senior tailback Jhamal Fluellen, whose darting running style could excel with the better footing and less wear-and-tear that comes with it.

“I don’t have to worry about my knees or my joints hurting after games and practices. I don’t have to worry about falling and having crazy scrapes and stuff like that,” said Fluellen.

Is it Iowa, or Indiana?

Former Lewiston star is taking a very Norman Dale-like approach to his college football debut, which should come when Maine opens it’s season before over 70,000 fans at Iowa on Aug. 30.

“It should be intense. But the field’s the same length, the hashmarks are the same, a touchdown is a touchdown, 10 yards is 10 yards, football is football,” said Turcotte, a red-shirt freshman who is currently listed as the Black Bears’ starting H-back.

During a scene in the film “Hoosiers”, Dale, the Hickory High School basketball coach played by Gene Hackman, took out the tape measure to show his players the height of the basket and the distance to the foul-line inside a big-city arena were just the same as their tiny gym in Hickory.

Safety at QB

Even though he’s been named the starting QB, sophomore Adam Farkes isn’t taking anything for granted in the preseason.

“I’m still competing every single play out there. No one’s really feeling safe out there because it’s camp. Everyone’s competing for every single spot,” he said.

Farkes split time with junior Michael Brusko last year, starting six games and throwing for 836 yards, seven touchdowns and four interceptions while completing just over 50 percent of his passes. Brusko, who started the first three games and final two of last season and was second on the team in rushing, is expected to see time elsewhere on offense, mostly as a receiver.

Black Bear Notes

Cosgrove needs one more victory to become the program’s all-time winningest coach with 81 victories…Iowa is coached by Kirk Ferentz, who was head coach at Maine from 1990-92. Cosgrove was his offensive coordinator during that time…Maine was picked to finish fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association’s North Division in a preseason poll of the conference’s 12 head coaches…Belcher, Fluellen, senior center Ryan Canary and senior linebacker Andrew Downey were preseason All-CAA selections…Former Maine offensive tackle Shawn Demaray, who exhausted his eligibility last season, took in Friday’s practice as a spectator. The Livermore Falls native was there for his new job as an assistant coach on the Maine Maritime football team picking up tips on conducting practice drills…Moloney, a junior walk-on from Mt. Blue, is locked in a four-way battle for field goal and extra point duties with two freshmen and another walk-on.