The average football fan might think that Southeast Missouri State University senior Kevin Meachem has come out of virtually nowhere this season to emerge as one of the Ohio Valley Conference's premier linebackers.

But according to Meachem, he's always been a playmaker. He just needed the playing time to display his wares.

"Last year we had some other people from bigger schools come in and I didn't get a chance to shine as much as I thought I would," he said. "Once I got more of a chance to play toward the end of the season, I thought I came on real strong. And this year, I'm really having a good time."

A 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, Meachem transferred to Southeast last year from Tyler (Texas) Junior College. The Indians had several Division I-A transfers at linebacker, so Meachem had a hard time breaking into the lineup.

But he got his chance toward the end of the season and wound up making some starts. He finished with 44 tackles, including four for losses.

This year, Meachem has been a terror all season long for the Indians. He leads the team in tackles with 61, which also ranks third in the OVC. His nine tackles for losses ranks second on the squad and his three quarterback sacks is tied for the team lead.

"Kevin really came on toward the end of last season and he worked extremely hard in the offseason," said Southeast head coach John Mumford. "He's just the kind of guy who makes big plays. He seems to be all over the field and he's having a tremendous season so far."

Meachem says making plays comes naturally to him.

"I've pretty much always been that way," he said with a laugh. "I had 25 tackles in one game in high school and in my freshman debut at junior college I had more than 20 tackles."

Meachem, a native of Arlington, Texas, played for Lamar High School, which is one of the top programs in the football-crazy state. Lamar routinely turns out several major-college prospects every season.

"We're a powerhouse every year," he said. "We're always battling for the district (title) and we went to the playoffs every year."

After a standout freshman season at Tyler Junior College, Meachem entered his sophomore campaign as a preseason All-American and a potential big-time recruit.

But he suffered through several injuries as a sophomore and the major-college offers he had expected didn't come. Still, he was happy to wind up in Cape Girardeau.

"I had letters from all over going into my sophomore year, but I had some injuries and I just didn't put up the numbers," he said. "Coach Mumford really made a big impression on me and I signed early."

Even though Meachem has had to get used to playing in front of fewer fans at Southeast than he did many nights in high school, he doesn't regret his decision.

"It is kind of different. In Texas, football is so big, we played all our playoff games in Texas Stadium, where the Cowboys play," he said with a chuckle. "But I'm happy here. I've had a good time. The people here are really cool. I wish we could have won more, but that's the way it goes."

Meachem, a computer science major, is still hopeful he can close out his college career on a winning note. The Indians, 4-7 last year, are 3-4 this season heading into Saturday's game at Southwest Missouri State. They've got four games left.

"We were really playing well until last weekend (a 38-7 loss to Tennessee State)," Meachem said. "We just have to shake it off and get back to the way we were playing before. We can still finish with a winning record. That's our goal."