As is the time-honored custom with University of Colorado football, its buffalo mascot, Ralphie V, will charge onto Folsom Field tomorrow before the game against Texas A&M.

So, too, will the Buffaloes' associate head coach, Brian David Kealiihaaheo Cabral.

Both, it seems, have become institutions in Boulder.

Cabral, a Saint Louis School graduate, will mark his 300th game at CU as a player (46) and coach (254), a school record.

As the 53-year-old takes the field, likely wrapped in his trademark lava lava, it will no doubt be with an appreciation of the irony of the milestone achievement.

Because, as Cabral likes to point out, there was a time when, as a soon-to-be 1974 Saint Louis School graduate, he "didn't know the difference between the University of Colorado and Colorado State."

Back then, he had Notre Dame — where his father, Walter (1951-54), was said to be the first player of Hawaiian ancestry to compete for the Fighting Irish — in his sights.

But when that didn't work out despite his father's matchmaking attempts, CU entered the picture. "My coach, Ron Marciel, talked to them for me since they had been interested," Cabral said.

It was love at first sight — and shiver. "My recruiting visit there was the first time I'd ever seen snow," Cabral said. "And, the next day there was a clear blue sky with snow on the ground and I was wearing a sweatshirt. I just fell in love with the place. The best thing that happened to me was coming to Colorado, without a doubt."

Still, it was hard to imagine it would be the beginning of a quarter-century spent in the Rockies: four years as a linebacker and 21 years as an assistant sandwiched around a nine-year NFL career.

This in a profession where his stay at CU is about seven times the national average for one coaching stop.

Especially since he hadn't initially thought much about coaching. "Never really dreamed of it," Cabral said. But near the end of his NFL days, highlighted by a Super Bowl XX appearance with the Chicago Bears, he filled out a career counseling questionnaire put out by the NFL and came to realize his future might be in a field beyond the one in physical therapy his schooling had prepared him for.

"My wife (Becky) said to me, matter of factly, 'I think you would make a great coach,' " Cabral said. "If I'm smart, I usually listen to my wife."

So, when CU coach Bill McCartney called with the offer of a graduate assistant position at his alma mater, Cabral seized the opportunity. "I remember he (McCartney) said something about ... 'coming back for a long time,' and, at the time, I had no idea what he meant."

Now, after serving four head coaches and dozens of players as a linebackers coach, he does. The coach they tease as "the old Buffalo" and "wise, old man" of Boulder has seen the Buffs to a national championship and 14 bowls. He was also called on as interim head coach in 2004 to help pick up the pieces and guide them through the aftermath of scandal.

"In reality, it has, without a doubt, been an honor and a privilege," Cabral said. "Really, it has been a blessing."