Britt Davis stepped to the line of scrimmage like he had done thousands of times in his life, but this time was different.

Not because he was playing the first college snap of his life. Not because he was in front of a crowd much bigger than most NFL crowds.

No, Britt Davis, who has played football his whole life, was stepping up to play at Michigan in front of 110,000 people and on national TV at a position he learned only two weeks earlier.

Davis was a quarterback in high school and, until Saturday, a quarterback in college. That was until NIU coach Joe Novak approached Davis about the opportunity to get on the field as a wide receiver.

“It was one day before practice when coach asked me if I was interested,” the Broadview native said. “My No. 1 goal is to do anything to help the team and I felt confident I can get the job done.”

Phil Horvath was named the starting quarterback this fall after winning a battle for the position that dated back to last spring, which meant Davis had to choose between running routes or settling for a backup role.

Although Davis had the confidence of his coach, as well as his own, the fact remained he had never been on the receiving end of a pass in a game.

But even his lack of experience was no concern to Davis. He finished with two catches for 18 yards against Michigan

“I was too excited to be nervous about it,” Davis said. “I felt comfortable and was excited to be on national TV. It really got my blood flowing.”

Davis threw for 39 touchdowns and 3,029 yards his senior year at Riverside-Brookfield High School. He said his experience at quarterback has helped him make the transition.

“Being a quarterback helped me a lot at receiving,” Davis said. “We kind of had a feel of how we’d want to run routes.”

Physically, Davis’ switch to wide receiver is a natural fit. Davis is 6-foot-3, 187 pounds and runs one of the quickest 40-yard dashes on the team.

“Britt is just too good to be on the sidelines,” Novak said. “He is one of the best athletes on the team. I wish I had three Britts. We could put one at safety.”

Davis also has the advantage of having family suit up with him on game days.

Sophomore tight end Brandon Davis is Britt’s older brother, but don’t expect his big brother to tell him how it’s done.

“You know what, my brother is a go-getter so I didn’t really need to tell him anything,” Brandon said. “He knew what was expected of him and he knew what he needed to do.”

Brandon added he is happy to have his brother on the field even he’s not under center.

“He’s a very talented quarterback and he could play anywhere,” he said. “I would love to have him be our quarterback, but that’s not his role right now, Phil is our guy.”

Britt is still taking reps as the No. 2 quarterback in practice and said that part of his career isn’t over, but with the Michigan game under his belt, he is prepared to get plenty more time at wide receiver – at least this season.

“Right now it’s where I help the team most,” Britt said. “I’m just happy to be on the field. I don’t care if it’s at wide receiver, quarterback or kicker.”

Even with Britt taking reps with the first and second team in practice, Novak isn’t worried about the amount of work.

“He works up an appetite, I’ll tell you that,” Novak said.