DAVIS, Calif. -- UC Davis' Jordan Perryman and Idaho's Tre Walker stared eye to eye, not flinching nor giving up an inch to the other. Each took turns trading words with the hope of inciting a reaction, while the other remained unfazed. This process repeated until time finally ran out. 

No, this was not a moment of two Big Sky Conference standouts glaring at each other from opposite ends of scrimmage. In fact, both are defensive players: Perryman stars at cornerback for the Aggies, Walker, at linebacker for the Vandals. Neither man was attempting to intimidate the other. In fact, it was quite the opposite. This episode took place during the Big Sky Kickoff media event in Spokane in July, with Perryman and Walker exchanging corny "dad jokes" in a game of "You Laugh, You Lose" for the league's video production crew.

While Perryman, a fifth-year human development major from Hanford, California, may have struggled to elicit a chuckle from Walker, he takes pride in his ability to raise the spirits of his teammates as one of the four UC Davis football co-captains. 

"I'm hoping to bring energy to the team," Perryman says. "Whenever things aren't going our way, I'm going to create positivity throughout everybody. I'll hype up the offense, hype up the defense, hype up special teams. I see myself as very energetic." The HERO Sports Preseason All-American says his role as an energizer resembles that of fellow defensive captain Isaiah Thomas. "We're almost the same person but we have two different styles." 

Associate head coach and cornerbacks coach Cha'pelle Brown agrees that Perryman's style differs from that of Thomas and some of the other players in the Aggie secondary. "He's different than Day Day [Devon King], who is more of a talker," Brown said. "Perryman opens his mouth when he needs to. He operates by doing the best he can, and everybody follows that."

"The big thing is that guys see him play at a high level, gets his academics done at a high level, and doing the right things off the field at a high level," says Brown. "That's why he's a leader. His playing speaks for itself, but more importantly, he holds guys to a high standard."

Perryman's performance on the field was rewarded with a third-team All-America nod from Phil Steele's and a first-team All-Big Sky Conference award, while his classroom performance garnered Big Sky Academic All-Conference honors. He posted 16 tackles with a forced fumble and a pair of pass breakups in the shortened five-game season last spring, which in turn followed the 41 total stops and two PBUs in 2019. 

According to Brown, Perryman's presence on the field is apparent long before game days, when teams study the game film. "When you play against us, you've got to know where No. 23 is," said Brown. "He's going to play physical, he gets off blocks, he'll tackle – he does all of the things that are necessary to being a good defensive back."

As a captain, Perryman has lofty objectives for the entire Aggie defense. UC Davis finished second in the Big Sky with 367.4 yards per game against during the spring of 2021, improving from a No. 8 conference ranking and 444.3 rate in 2019, and considerably better than even the Big Sky co-champion 2018 team (431.8 ypg).

"I want our defense to be No. 1 overall in our conference, and not only in the conference, but in the nation. For my personal goals, I don't want to be the fifth overall or the ninth overall DB. I want to be number one. That's what I'm shooting for."

High standards, indeed.

Note: this is the fourth of a four-part preseason camp series introducing the 2021 team co-captains. UC Davis opens its 2021 season at Tulsa on Thursday. The game kicks off at 4:30 p.m. Pacific and is available to watch on a subscription basis at ESPN+.

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