No one was about to tell Asen Asparuhov to keep to himself.

So what if it was 1:30 in the morning and everyone on the Fresno State team bus just wanted to sleep? The man just kicked the two biggest field goals in school history -- one to tie Colorado State at 22 as time ran out in regulation and another in overtime to keep the Bulldogs undefeated at 6-0. No one was about to stop tonight's hero from yapping. So when the junior finished his KFC and the bus started rolling toward the Denver airport, he began an hour-long monologue.

"John Elway was at the game?" Asparuhov said to no one in particular. "He saw me kick? What's up, cuz?!" Scott the ticket manager muttered that Elway was long gone by the time Asparuhov tied the game, and probably sleeping when he ended it. "Oh well," the kicker said. "He'll see it on SportsCenter. We always got SportsCenter!" And so on.

Thing is, Asparuhov wouldn't even be at Fresno State if he kept his mouth shut. He grew up in Bulgaria and decided to leave the country after giving up on a pro soccer career. Asen moved to San Diego to live with his uncle and enrolled at Grossmont Community College. It was 1998. He was 21.

One day, Asparuhov drove by the school's football field. He looked over at a bunch of kickers flailing away. He thought, "I can do better." So he parked, walked right up to the group, and talked his way into a tryout. Say hello to Grossmont's new kickoffs guy. "I had never even seen a football before," he recounted to the half-asleep crowd on the bus as he licked chicken grease off his fingers. "I didn't know how to put on the shoulder pads!"

Asen also got a part-time job in the school's purchasing department. He was asked to help with mailings. Instead, he helped himself. When a check written to the inventor of an academic day planner got returned, Asen called the guy for a correct address. He got the inventor's wife. They got to talking. He told her he played football, "sort of." What did he mean by "sort of"? The lady wanted to know. "Well," said Asen, laughing. "I'm a kicker." Turns out the inventor of the day planner was also the Fresno State special teams coach, John Baxter. The wife of the inventor informed Asparuhov that Fresno State needed a kicker. Badly.

Asen called Baxter. That was on a Wednesday. By Friday, Asparuhov had driven himself up to Fresno, a town he had previously never heard of. Problem was, Asen had never -- ever -- attempted a field goal. So Asen showed Baxter some film of his kickoffs. Say hello to Fresno State's new starting placekicker.

On September 1 of last year, Asen attempted his first-ever field goal in a college football game -- in front of 90,000 fans at Ohio State. It was blocked. "I walked to the sidelines," Asen says to the bus, "and I couldn't feel my legs."

Fifteen good field goals later, Asen still gets nervous. Saturday night, before the game-tying boot (and his longest FG ever), he shook. But he still told Baxter to "just relax" and then knocked it through. "If I get it on my instep, it's in," he said, pointing to his left foot. "If I get it with my toe, it's going left." The overtime winner? Well, Asparuhov knew that one was good before he even walked onto the field. "I wanted to go home," he insisted. Then he proceeded to tell his teammates that if they mob him like that again he's not going to stick around for the celebration. "It's dangerous," he said.

Fine. Sure. Whatever you say, Asen.

By 3:30, the team had boarded the plane. The captain came onto the PA, introduced himself, congratulated the team, and said, "I could kiss your kicker."

Asen said nothing.

Eric Adelson is writing a feature on Fresno State for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at eric.adelson@espnmag.com.