Think your job is tough?

Har.

Don't even whine if you're not a shark tamer, Paris Hilton's publicist or a nose tackle in football.

"If we didn't have training camp and practices," Hawai'i defensive coordinator Jerry Glanville said, "we'd prepare our nose tackle by sending him out to the Interstate and letting him dodge cars."

Jeff Reinebold, who coaches the UH defensive linemen, mused: "Know how we pick our nose tackle? We take a guy into a room, turn out the lights, and three guys with baseball bats hit him from different angles. If he can stand up and walk, then we sign him up. If not, we send him to another position. What happens in that room is what a nose tackle will experience for the next five years in games and practices."

For the past two seasons, it was Michael Lafaele who stood and delivered.

Lafaele, a fourth-year junior from Farrington High School, is the unknown soldier in the Warriors' three-man defensive front. Lafaele, who is 6 feet and weighs 305 pounds, holds the point — keeping the offensive traffic from advancing — to allow his celebrated wingmen, defensive ends Melila Purcell III and Ikaika Alama-Francis, to seal the perimeters.

The ferocity of the defensive line is why the Warriors are third among Western Athletic Conference teams in scoring defense, relinquishing 22 points per game.

"He's part of the reason we're special," Glanville said.

Reinebold, who has become a devoted video student, declared that Lafaele, "for the position he plays, is playing as well as anybody I've seen on tape. And I've watched everybody's people when we're doing our cross-scouting evaluation. He has taken his play, in my opinion, to the next level.

"He's not a great guy to look at," Reinebold added. "He's not going to win any beauty contests coming off the bus in his uniform (for his style of play). But once the ball is snapped, that's what matters."

UH's 3-4 defense involves the same concepts as the scheme used by the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Because of that, Lafaele has earned the nickname "Kimo," in tribute to Moloka'i High grad Kimo von Oelhoffen, a defensive tackle with the Steelers last season who now plays for the New York Jets.

"They wear the same number (67) and play the same style," Reinebold said. "Kimo's not a real pretty guy, either, but he's a really good football player. I think it's a good compliment for Michael."

Lafaele deflects such praise. Told of the comparison to von Oelhoffen, Lafaele said: "No ways."

In UH's defense, Lafaele has the difficult two-gap job, meaning he is responsible for covering the gaps on each side of the opposing center.

"He does it well, and it's not an easy thing to do," Reinebold said.

It is even more difficult because Lafaele is suffering from plantar fasciitis, a painful injury to the heel of his left foot.

"When he's not playing, he has to wear a special (medical) boot," Glanville said. "He can't even take (a pain-killing) injection."

Lafaele said he tries to ignore the stabbing pain.

"I have treatment on it two times a day, before practice and before (the afternoon) meetings," Lafaele said.

Glanville said: "He's a tough guy. I don't know how he can even stand on it."

Lafaele also said he does not mind the double blocks he faces on every play.

"I'm used to it," he said. "You just have to play fast and smart."

Reinebold said: "The reason he's good is he's a tough, tough guy. He's the kind of guy you need on your football team. There are a lot of guys who get overlooked in your recruiting because everybody wants the bigger, taller, faster guy. But when the final analysis is made, there are a lot of big, tall, fast guys who aren't making plays. Michael makes plays."

And, there are times, when Lafaele is playful.

"I'm always busy with football and school, but I try to spend as much time with my kids," said Lafaele, who is a father to two daughters, 5 years and 20 months, and a 9-month-old son. "Their mom does a great job with them. I try to help."