While his teammates tiptoe around, Northwestern defensive tackle Pete Chapman lies flat on the grass with knees raised and hands behind his head. It is 6:30 p.m., the air is getting colder and, for most players, practice is over.

But this is crunch time for Chapman. Literally.

With defensive line coach Jack Glowik kneeling beside him, the 292-pound tackle does a grueling set of crunches. Five minutes go by, then 10, and at last a panting Chapman rises slowly, grabs his battered helmet and trudges off to the locker room.

Spring practice is the time to experiment with formations, rehash fundamentals and, most importantly, avoid injuries. But for Northwestern’s defensive linemen, easing up is simply not an option.

“Everybody’s job is in jeopardy,” Glowik says with a chuckle. “There’s nothing in stone. They know that. It’s a fact of life.”

The loss of three senior defensive linemen – Dwayne Missouri, Javiar Collins and Conrad Emmerich – makes the four weeks of spring ball a prime opportunity for Chapman and company to showcase their talents for Wildcats’ coaches. Senior defensive tackle Salem Simon is the lone returning starter on an NU line that yielded 204.8 rushing yards per game and finished 10th in Big Ten rush defense.

Despite the key departures, players and coaches say they are taking a business-as-usual approach to the coming season. NU coach Randy Walker said he plans to keep a base 4-3 defense and added that the only new addition to the defensive line is sophomore Ben Kennedy, who moved over from the offensive line.

“As a defense we’re trying to be more aggressive, more assertive on attacking the line of scrimmage,” Chapman said. “With the pass rush, it’s just being more hungry for the quarterback, and for myself, not being satisfied just with hitting him or knocking him down.

“Nothing short of a sack will be satisfying.”

And while Missouri, Collins and Emmerich will be missed, the remaining linemen are looking ahead.

“It’s just the beginning and we’re already sick of hearing about all that we lost,” Chapman said. “They were three of my good friends and they were all good football players, but they’re not here anymore and we need to move on.”

Nonetheless, the departing trio leaves a gaping hole in NU’s front line, blowing the race for starting jobs wide open.

But while some of the names atop NU’s depth chart in September will have fans frantically thumbing through their programs, the drop in experience is minimal.

Chapman, a senior, played in every game last season and recorded 24 tackles and one sack. He also started five games at defensive tackle in 1999.

Senior defensive end Pete Konopka saw action in all 12 NU games in 2000. In 1999, he started seven games and racked up 12 tackles.

After starting 10 games in 1999, Simon returned from an offseason ACL injury to start last year’s final 10 games and record 40 tackles, including five tackles for losses. Although SiMonday, a two-year starter, has the most game experience, he said he is confident his teammates will step up.

“I’ve got the most reps out of the defensive linemen, but everybody’s played, we’ve all grown up together,” Simon said. “It’s really not too different.”

The bond between upperclassmen like SiMonday, Konopka and Chapman helps their performance during the spring. While Walker and his staff promote competition, the linemen say it hasn’t been a drawback for the group.

“Competition is definitely good for our team,” Konopka said. “The more competition you have, the more we’ll learn from each other, the more we’re going to work hard in practice. All in all, we’re going to be a better defensive line.”

But the battles don’t end with spring practice.

The veterans face a new batch of threats at Camp Kenosha, when Walker’s recruits strap on their still-shiny purple helmets. And the linemen will be eyeing high school All American defensive tackle Thomas Derricks, a blue-chipper from Garland, Texas, who some believe has the talent to leapfrog older players.

“I never promise a recruit anything and I don’t promise they’re going to play, but you look at the depth chart and there are not a lot of bodies between them and the front,” Walker said.

Despite Derricks’ storied high school career, Simon and his teammates are standing their ground.

“It’s competition, but hey, we’re seniors and they’re freshmen,” Simon said with a grin. “If they can contribute, that’s great because coming from high school to college is a hard switch, especially at the D-line position.

“It would be greatly helpful if one of those guys could step up and play next year, but right now I’m dealing with the people we’ve got here.”

After last season’s run-stopping struggles and the postseason personnel losses, NU’s linemen admit there is some added pressure in 2001.

But Simon welcomes the underdog label and looks forward to surprising teams next season.

“When people look at us they might try to downplay us,” Simon said. “But that’s (OK) because we’re going to step up to the plate and bring it just like anybody else would.

“Sometimes it’s all right to be underestimated because you can pop somebody in the mouth.”