Nick Tarburton is focused on making an impact in Penn State’s upcoming season

Five years ago, Nick Tarburton was under the Friday night lights at Pennridge High School. Now, he’s getting ready to embark on his redshirt senior season at Penn State as a mainstay on the defensive line.

The Green Lane native is coming off a season last year that saw him play in every game for the first time in his career, after battling injuries in prior seasons. But despite this, he isn’t dwelling on the injuries.

“I can’t focus on the injury aspect of the game,” Tarburton said Tuesday. “That’s part of the game, but I can do everything I can to prevent it.”

» READ MORE: Penn State QB Sean Clifford adds a new job title: Team Leader

While focusing on dieting and listening to his body, he’s also working on his pass-rush game this spring, noting he’s even stayed after practice to fine tune the smaller details of his craft. And from all accounts, he’s improving.

Caedan Wallace started all 13 games at right tackle last year and said he and Tarburton line up against each other frequently at practice.

“Tarburton’s developing really well,” Wallace said. “He’s getting really good with his hands.”

It’s not just on-field things that Tarburton’s looking to get better at, though. Given he’s one of the elders of the locker room, he wants to step up as a leader, and while he feels he does a good job of leading by example, getting more vocal is an area he noted he’s trying to improve at.

“He’s a vet,” safety Ji’Ayir Brown said after practice Wednesday. “We got a lot of young guys who need Nick to step up and coach them… He’s been doing a great job being that leader on the field.”

After a full season on the line, Tarburton figures to factor in as a force on the defensive front for Penn State this season, and he just wants to “wreak havoc” as a “physical, dominant threat.”

And, if you’re asking James Franklin, he thinks Tarburton could be in line for a “big year” despite not being a name fans may have pegged as a star heading into the season.

“He’s a critical piece of our locker room and our team,” Franklin said of the 6-foot-3, 260-pound defensive end. “He does everything right. When those guys keep making those kinds of investments, they usually get a return on it.

“Last year started it and I think he can build on it.”