He trotted onto the field to kick a 60-yard field goal. The kick was dead accurate and about to split the uprights until it fell out of the air and plummeted to the ground.

Just short by three feet.

Saturday, with Kimball missing the 60-yarder, it was not the first time that he had done so. The major difference was that the most recent kick was to win the game.

One thing hasn't changed one bit - Kimball has one of the strongest legs around.

"In my 31 years of coaching, I haven't seen anyone with a stronger leg," State College High School coach Dave Lintal said.

After Saturday's missed kick Kimball, to say the least, was a little disappointed. In order to make himself feel better Kimball went out to the practice field and kicked a couple of long field goals.

This time, Kimball said the result was different than in the game - he made them.

In high school, Lintal said that he knew almost immediately of Kimball's leg. Kimball as a freshman kicked for freshman team, before joining the varsity squad. Kimball also played wide receiver.

"He was quite an outstanding athlete," Lintal said. "He is only 6-foot, but he can dunk a basketball."

Kimball was not like most kickers that have a background in soccer. He stopped playing soccer in the seventh grade.

Lintal said that a lot of his players aspire to play at Penn State because that's what they see on a weekly basis.

After being named to the Parade All-America team, Kimball ventured a few miles across town to join Penn State.

Kimball wasn't interested in going anywhere else, but looked at others schools to fulfill his mother's requests. The 200-pound kicker only received a scholarship offer from Penn State.

Since receiving the scholarship, times haven't been easy for Kimball. As a sophomore in 2001, after missing an extra point against Wisconsin and not attempting a field goal, Kimball was replaced by Robbie Gould.

Kimball said that he was coming off an injury early in that season.

"I struggled my freshman year kicking long field goals," Kimball said. "The thing more than anything is I kind of let those misses bother me and the most important thing is to have short memory. I didn't have that."

Kimball expects to start this Saturday, as he has been kicking all week with the first team. If Kimball continues kicking field goals and does well, one would have to wonder if he could play at the next level.

"My aspirations are to get a shot in the NFL, but I'm not real sure what my odds of doing so," Kimball said.

In the NFL, the kickoff is from the 30 yard-line as opposed to the 35 yard-line and the kicking tees are lower.

There is a similar adjustment from high school to college and Kimball didn't seem to have a problem with the that one.

In order to successfully make the jump, Kimball would have to have a strong work ethic. Lintal said that Kimball has always worked hard at improving his game.

"He has always worked hard in the weight room," Lintal said. "There were times when we would have to turn out the lights on him."