Treibatch Throws Himself Headlong Into Role as Safety : CS Northridge: Senior has rebounded quickly from numerous injuries and is on verge of becoming Matadors' all-time leading tackler.

By THERESA MUNOZ

Oct. 17, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Eric Treibatch had to beg just to walk on at Cal State Northridge. Even his enthusiastic litany of personal statistics was not enough. It was the MTV-style video of his exploits at Montclair Prep that earned Treibatch a tryout.

Who would have guessed that a kid nobody wanted would wind up as the Matadors’ all-time leading tackler?

Not Mark Banker, the Matador defensive coordinator who was intrigued by Treibatch’s persistence, stunned by his heavy metal video and finally won over by the bone-crunching hits Treibatch made over and over to the beat of Bon Jovi.

At Northridge, Treibatch appears to be on a video stuck on instant replay. The 6-foot, 210-pound senior safety has made 208 tackles--121 unassisted. He needs nine Saturday against Santa Clara to surpass linebacker Ken Vaughn (1990-91) and become the most prolific tackler in school history.

The first live evidence of Treibatch’s ability to steamroller a college opponent provided an inkling of what was to come. Treibatch’s hit in practice knocked out a teammate cold. The would-be receiver did not return the following day.

But Treibatch came back for more and made the traveling team as a true freshman. Three games into the 1987 season as a special-teams kamikaze, he suffered a stress fracture in his left leg and was granted a redshirt season. In 1989, he was awarded a rare second redshirt season after sustaining a knee injury early in the season.

The pattern was set. Treibatch would dish it out, then absorb it--from a punctured lung and cracked ribs to torn knee ligaments and multiple stress fractures to the ruptured disk that threatened to end his collegiate career and deprive him of his place in the Northridge record books.

When Treibatch underwent spinal surgery July 29, six weeks before the season, Banker did not count him out because of the amazing recuperative abilities he had shown in the past.

“After every injury he came back, so if anyone could come back, even after a severe injury, it is Eric,” Banker said. “I had doubts in the beginning. Then, I visited the hospital the day of his surgery, and when I went back the next day to visit, he wasn’t there!”

Treibatch defied the odds at every turn.

He left the hospital two days early, began lifting weights three weeks ahead of schedule and started jogging 4 1/2 weeks ahead of doctors’ projections.

Originally expected to return Oct. 24 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Treibatch made his debut Sept. 19 against San Francisco State in the third game of the season.

His rapid recovery was nothing short of shocking. The team’s orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Lester Cohn, has strong reservations about the risks Treibatch is taking, playing so soon after surgery on his spine.

Banker and defensive back coach LeRoy Irvin fear that Treibatch masks pain too well.

“He savors every moment, so if he was hurt, he wouldn’t tell you,” Irvin said.

Only a fly on the wall knows the depths of Treibatch’s Sunday-morning agony.

“Sundays are horrible,” Treibatch admits. “But it gets better.”

If Treibatch, the team’s defensive captain, sounds masochistic, Irvin prefers to see it another way. It is not his willingness to suffer, Irvin believes, so much as his willingness to do whatever it takes for the love of the game.

“He was like a caged panther when he was hurt,” Irvin said. “I saw it in his eyes. A lot of guys say they love the game, Eric Treibatch lives it. (Former Rams linebacker) Hacksaw Reynolds and (Detroit Lions linebacker) Chris Spielman had that same look.

“When it is time to strap it on Eric is able to put aside everything around him. He is so focused and so aggressive, he wants to be in on every tackle.”

And those tackles are fundamentally sound.

“It’s timing,” Banker said. “It is like anything else, striking a baseball or a golf ball, and Eric has the size and strength to go with the timing. It is nice to have your best tackler as the last line of defense.”

Tackling was Treibatch’s trademark at Montclair Prep, but the Division I recruiters who pursued Rich Swinton a year earlier were not around when the Mounties suffered through a losing season in 1986, Treibatch’s senior year.

The following summer, Treibatch was on the Northridge campus for a local all-star game when he decided to march into the coaches’ office, tape in hand.

“He walked in confidently, but yet nervous, and basically told us we made a mistake not recruiting him,” Banker said.

Banker and Coach Bob Burt popped the Treibatch highlight film into the VCR and were mesmerized.

“It was unbelievable,” Banker said. “Every time he touched the ball he made a great gain or scored a touchdown, and he made great catches. And on defense he was dominant, especially tackling. He was so physical. We did make a mistake . . . we weren’t recruiting (defensive backs) at the time.”

Treibatch, who made the tape as a keepsake, had one more surprise in store for Burt and Banker. When they asked if he was requesting a scholarship, he said: “Not necessarily. You decide after the first year.”

The staff decided in his favor, but Treibatch, son of Chuck Treibatch, now one of Northridge’s most generous boosters, declined.

What a bargain. Treibatch earned second team All-Western Football Conference honors in 1990 and ’91 and has served as team captain the past two seasons.

He is a quiet leader who has earned the reputation of demanding more of himself than of his teammates.

“Sometimes guys are tired. He sees that so he doesn’t get on them,” cornerback Vinnie Johnson said. “Sometimes their problems go beyond football. He’s sensitive. He’s been here. He knows when to panic and when not to panic. He knows when it’s time to turn it on.”

Treibatch wants to convey two messages: his will to win and his love of the game.

“I’d give up every record,” he said, “every defensive player of the week, every WFC player of the week, every high school award, for a conference championship. You can’t do it without 10 other guys.”

And those guys need to know what they will be missing, according to Treibatch.

“When this is all said and done, for the juniors, the sophomores, the freshmen, I will tell them what football means. Even though our field is not the greatest and even though we don’t get the best food, football is the greatest.

“I’m a testament to the fact that these guys will really miss it. I had it taken away and then given back. It is my existence.”