STANFORD, Calif. – When senior cornerback Alijah Holder lines up against San Diego State on Saturday night at San Diego Stadium, he could be staring at his identical twin brother, Mikah.
Mikah, a wide receiver for the Aztecs, has four catches and one touchdown this season. Alijah made a spectacular one-handed interception against USC last week and has come back strong after missing the last nine games in 2016 with an injury.
Both starred at Oceanside High in Oceanside, California, but have never played against each other.
"I've had mixed feelings about it," Alijah said Tuesday. "I've never competed against my brother, seriously, so it's something very new to me. At the same time, this is going to be an incredible experience. What a stage to do it back home."
Not that they haven't battled.
"It's not like I have never hit my brother," said Alijah, who did not play as a freshman. "When we were growing up, we fought a lot and were very competitive. Heads got cracked and furniture got dented."
What would it feel like to tackle Mikah?
"I think it will be more funny that anything," Alijah said. "I'll help him up."
Who is the better athlete?
"I've always thought Mikah is (the better athlete)," Alijah said. "But I go to Stanford, and I've been trained now. I think I'm a little bit better of a matchup."
David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, knows it could be a challenging night for their mother, Angela.
"I know there's going to be one conflicted lady in the stands," he said.
Maybe not, said Alijah. Asked how she would handle it, he said, "I already know. She's loving it. She's telling everybody to come to the game."
Alijah expects about 200 family and friends to attend, and said his mother is having special shirts made to commemorate the occasion.
"It's going to be special," he said.
San Diego State (2-0) is led by senior running back Rashaad Perry. The 5-11, 220-pounder ranks No. 2 in the country in rushing with 413 yards and No. 1 in all-purpose yards per game, averaging 284.
He had a monster night in the Aztecs' 30-20 victory at Arizona State last Saturday night, rushing for a career-high 216 yards and finished with 353 all-purpose yards. Perry scored touchdowns on a 95-yard run, 99-yard kickoff return and 33-yard reception.
"He breaks a lot of tackles," said Shaw. "He's a north and south runner, and when you give him a crease, he's got the speed to take it the distance."
USC hurt No. 19 Stanford (1-1) by rushing for 307 yards.
"They're going to run right at us, they're going to be physical, and they're going to play hard and fast," Shaw said of San Diego State. "They're a very aggressive team on both sides of the ball. We've got to make sure that we're the same."
The Aztecs are also proficient at creating turnovers. They have already forced five fumbles, recovering two, and have been among the national leaders the last two seasons in interceptions.
"It's a very unique, structured defense," said Shaw. "They essentially have three safeties and two corners. There's late rotation, and a lot of different types of blitzes. They've been able to attack people's protections and put quarterbacks under duress and make inaccurate throws."
After falling 42-24 at USC last Saturday night, Shaw knows his team needs to step it up against the dangerous Aztecs.
"Huge improvement needs to happen," he said.
Shaw found no fault with his squad's effort or passion, but admitted execution must improve, especially on defense.
"The issue was the play of our front seven," said Shaw. "It was a combination of USC playing really well and us making some mistakes and them taking advantage of those mistakes."
Shaw cited many positives from the USC game, including the running of Bryce Love, catching of JJ Arecga-Whiteside, secondary play of Holder, Quenton Meeks and Justin Reid, and the punting of Jake Bailey.
After missing the first game due to injury, offensive tackle A.T. Hall saw action at right tackle. Shaw is still experimenting with the unit and could make adjustments.
"We're going to look at a lot of things," said Shaw. "We've got a lot of experience there, but at the same time, we've got some youth and ability. So we're going to look at a couple combinations and see how that bears out at the end of the week."
Shaw added that starting spots and playing time are still up for grabs at some positions.
"We are still in that mode of competing," he said.
Offensive guard David Bright said Love is performing at a high level and that the line is determined to give him more daylight.
"He's running really hard and seeing things well," Bright said. "We just have to give him those opportunities to find holes and lanes."
In addition to the Holder family, Stanford has many connections with San Diego area. Meeks, free safety Frank Buncom and outside linebacker Casey Toohill are from San Diego, while Bailey (Solana Beach), inside linebacker Jordan Perez (Carlsbad), outside linebacker Caleb Phillips (Encinitas) and kicker Collin Riccitelli (San Marcos) are also local products.
Shaw's father, Willie, a long-time college and pro assistant coach, graduated from Lincoln High and was a teammate of Aztecs head coach Rocky Long on the 1969 New Mexico football team. Shaw returned to the area to coach at San Diego City College and San Diego High School, and completed his undergraduate and a master's degree at San Diego State. He also coached defensive backs for the San Diego Chargers.
David Shaw was born in San Diego and returned in 2006 to work as an assistant coach for Jim Harbaugh at USD, where he served as the passing game coordinator and oversaw wide receivers.
Shaw attended the first half of last Sunday's game between the San Francisco 49ers and Carolina Panthers to watch former Cardinal standouts Solomon Thomas and Christian McCaffrey make their NFL debuts.
"I couldn't pass it up," he said.
Shaw said he felt a great sense of pride on the sideline watching the rookies compete.
"It's always emotional for me," said Shaw. "When they come in as freshmen, you don't know what they're going to do here or afterwards. There's a huge sense of pride watching them mature as football players and mature as people. They're doing that they love and they're passionate about it."
Thomas had only one opportunity tackle McCaffrey.
"And it wasn't square, right on," said Shaw. "He took a swipe at Christian's leg and couldn't quite get him. I don't think Solomon would count that as a broken tackle ... Christian may count that as a broken tackle. Because make no mistake, they are keeping score."
From here on, Shaw will resume his normal Sunday routine of taping NFL games to watch his former players and scanning the play-by-play of games on the internet to see how they did. He makes a point of texting them afterward.
"I think it's important for me to let them know that I still care about them and watch them," Shaw said. "They're still a part of this Stanford family."
Quotable ... "You kind of have to get punched in the gut sometimes before you really know what you have." - David Shaw