In November, Brian Castello stepped onto the football field at Notre Dame Stadium as starting quarterback of the Keenan Knights, an intramural tackle football team.

In April, the Scott Township native stepped onto the field as back-up quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

"I kind of dreamed to come to Notre Dame and live out my dream (of playing college football) in Interhall," said Castello, a freshman at Notre Dame University. "As far as being on the team, it never crossed my mind until this fall as a possibility."

During the previous five-plus fall seasons, he was a soccer player -- a physically imposing defender in the backfield for one Chartiers Valley team or another.

In his two seasons as the starting quarterback for the Colts, Castello posted a 10-10 record. He helped lead Chartiers Valley to the second round of the 2005 WPIAL AAA playoffs his junior year -- a season when he threw for 742 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for another four.

"He was the best player in terms of knowledge of the game," said Chartiers Valley coach Chris Saluga. "He had a hunger to learn not just what we did, but why we did it."

Though his time with high school football was brief, Castello was hooked on the sport.

He attended scouting camps before his senior season with hopes of drawing a college's attention. Carnegie Mellon University and Washington University in St. Louis were interested, but Castello declined to attend either.

By the end of school last spring, Castello had turned his attention to Notre Dame -- a university that offered both NCAA and intramural football. One prospect was far-fetched. The other served its purpose.

His teammates on the dorm-league, or "Interhall" football team encouraged him to try out for the Fighting Irish in the spring.

The idea no longer seemed unreasonable to Castello. He had started at quarterback for his dorm team, which lost in the championship game of the university-wide league. A senior teammate who had tried out in previous years offered to help train Castello.

"I knew I had to pass the conditioning part to even touch a ball," Castello said of the tryouts.

His parents, however, had doubts.

"I just thought the competition was so great, it'd be difficult," said Tom Castello, Brian's father and a 1976 Notre Dame graduate.

"It seemed like an insurmountable task," Brian's mother, Mary Esther, added. She attended Notre Dame's sister school, St. Mary's College

Castello said almost 50 players showed up for the open tryout in January.

"It wasn't the hardest workout," Castello said. "They just wanted to see what kind of athletic ability you had."

He survived the first round of cuts, which knocked the number of walk-ons to 17.

The remaining walk-ons worked out with the team three times a week as part of the winter conditioning program. Castello said the sit-ups, push-ups and calisthenics were the least of the walk-ons' challenges.

"Time was the biggest thing," Castello said. "There aren't too many guys who want to wake up at 5:30 in the morning."

With two quarterbacks lost to other schools and several walk-on quarterbacks graduated, Notre Dame was desperate for more options at play-caller. Castello was ready to fill the void.

"It was kind of the perfect situation for me," Castello said.

Castello survived the round of cuts made after spring practices and found himself second on the depth chart at quarterback prior to the April 19 Blue and Gold game.

On the day of the game, just before kickoff, reality hit Castello.

"Walking down the stairway, the 'Play Like a Champion' sign, all those championships, all those hall-of-famers, Montana ... it kind of gives you goosebumps," he said.

Castello's family watched from the bleachers as he rushed the field --donning the gold helmet and navy jersey -- with the rest of the Fighting Irish.

"Who'd have thought my son would be running through that tunnel and hitting the sign?" Mary Esther said.

Castello went in at quarterback for two series in the game -- both three-and-outs -- consisting of only run plays.

Notre Dame's other walk-on quarterback had the chance to throw a pass. Castello knew better than to ask the coaching staff for his own shot.

"His situation called for it and mine didn't, but I'm OK with that," Castello said. "I'm just doing what I'm told to do."

Castello expects to sit a bit deeper on the bench in the fall. Notre Dame's back-up quarterback will return after the baseball season ends, and at least one highly touted prospect arrives in August. But he said his purpose with the team goes beyond the depth chart. Filling in on the scout team during practice and challenging the starters are his top priorities.

Because Castello made the official roster, he will not need to try out in the seasons to come. Only disciplinary problems or failure to maintain a 3.0 average -- the standard coach Charlie Weis set for walk-ons -- can result in his being cut.

Castello plans to double major in mechanical engineering and finance, a five-year program. He admits the combination of football and a demanding workload is no easy task and leaves little time for the college's other extra-curricular activities, but he expects it to pay off eventually.

"I think the experience of football will take me a lot farther in life than one Saturday night party or one Friday night party," Castello said.