Their high school coaches give a more nuanced depiction. There's little question about their respective strengths, but the coaches say there's much more to them than pure athletic talent.

"I wouldn't underestimate Keith's intelligence," said Noel Dean, Nichol's former coach at Lowell High. "His athletic ability may be off the charts, but he's a very intelligent player. He had well over a 3.5 grade-point average while he was here. I think he'd rather be known as intelligent than athletic."

MSU's coaches frequently have mentioned Cousins' intelligence on and off the field, with his 4.0 GPA at Holland Christian serving as a testament to his brainpower.

His competitiveness, however, might be the intangible factor that has delivered the 6-3, 202-pound Cousins to the point where he's poised to be MSU's next starter.

"He's always had higher expectations than anyone else," said Tim Lont, Cousins' coach at Holland Christian. "He's harder on himself than anyone else could be."

His MSU offer came late during recruiting, barely a month before the 2007 national signing day. MSU had an unexpected need at quarterback when Nichol de-committed to attend Oklahoma, and Cousins, who suffered a foot injury as a junior, was not in many larger schools' sights during his senior season.

Cousins competed well with touted recruit Nick Foles of Austin, Texas, a player MSU signed a few weeks after signing day in 2007, and by the end of their true freshman season and the spring campaign, the race for the backup spot to Brian Hoyer was considered even.

"We're obviously proud of Kirk," Lont said. "This has been a dream of his for a long time. He was our leader for four years, and we knew he was capable of playing at the collegiate level."

When the 6-foot-2, 212-pound Nichol returned from Oklahoma, Foles transferred, leaving Cousins alone at the No. 2 spot. Cousins was 32-for-43 for 310 yards and two touchdowns in five games in 2008. He threw one interception.

Dean said Nichol's time learning the Oklahoma playbook and competing with future Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford improved his skills as a player, and that being away from game-time action for two seasons -- as a true freshman and last year on MSU's scout team -- has made him more eager to prove himself.

"From a personal standpoint, he's shown a lot of personal growth," Dean said. "It allowed him to become a much better person. That's the thing I notice most -- his self-confidence is just off the charts."

Lont said Cousins, already a strong student of the game, has improved even more in his decision-making.

"He's grown a lot. He's way ahead of where he was last year," Lont said. "He's reading at another level now."

The spring season presented the possibility of separation between the players -- either Cousins could use his game-time experience in MSU's offense to put himself ahead of Nichol, or Nichol could use his season of scout-team preparation and talent that made him one of the nation's top recruits to edge ahead of Cousins.

Their identical statistics in the spring game -- 357 yards and four touchdowns -- became symbolic of the fact that the competition would extend into the preseason.

"Both those guys are great leaders," coach Mark Dantonio said. "They've been very successful in high school, they have a presence on the field, and they were successful in the spring. We'll go into August and see how it works from there and into the season. But I think it's a good situation."

Lont and Dean were complimentary when comparing the two.

"Kirk has a great arm," Lont said. "Keith may have a little better feet and can scramble. It makes sense to use both of them."

Said Dean: "I'm not Mark Dantonio, but it's a good problem for him to have. Keith has the ability to make plays under pressure, and that ability separates him a little."

As all coaches recognize though, the hype surrounding the competition might mean little in the end -- for both athletes.

"You're just one hit away from being the guy anyway," Lont said.