LOS ANGELES — Bryan Kehl said the Brigham Young football team didn't celebrate Saturday's big win over Arizona "all that much."

Amid the satisfaction of one success over Pacific-10 Conference opposition, the senior linebacker was looking ahead to another.

In anticipation of this afternoon's trip to the Rose Bowl to play UCLA and his former roommate, Kehl raced off the field in Tucson shouting "Ben Olson!"

Olson, the Thousand Oaks High product who threw five touchdown passes in UCLA's season-opening win at Stanford Saturday, was Kehl's roommate for a semester five years ago, when the pair were freshmen in Provo, Utah.

"It's cool to finally see Ben on the field," said Kehl by phone this week. "I know how hard he's worked to finally get there.

"I can't believe it's been five years. I can't believe I'm going to be looking across the ball at him at the Rose Bowl.

"I've been looking forward to this with great anticipation."

Olson, who transferred from BYU to UCLA after attending a two-year church mission in Western Canada, doesn't seem to be as excited to see his old teammates. Perhaps because he knows the type of abuse he's going to receive next year in Provo.

He's called today "just another game." Saying his team in Provo, although special to him, was "five years ago."

"A lot of people didn't quite understand why I chose to go on a mission," said Olson. "That's what I've come to understand. You're going to make decisions that people are going to second guess, and as long as my family is behind me it's the right thing to do.

"You have to make decisions in life."

Olson and Kehl lived together in an apartment across the street from the BYU practice facility. Kehl said they competed at everything from who would study the longest in study hall, to video games to who would grab a girl's glance at the school dances.

During practice, Olson, who redshirted in his first year under coach Gary Crowton, was the scout team's quarterback. Kehl was across the ball, trying to intercept his passes.

"Neither of us liked losing," said Kehl.

They both left Provo for their church missions in Canada — Olson to Alberta and British Columbia, Kehl to Ontario and Quebec.

By the time Kehl returned, Olson was Drew Olson's backup at UCLA. On a trip to visit his friends in Provo, Olson explained his decision to Kehl, who understood.

"I believe in life that you need to do what you believe in," said Olson.

On film, Kehl sees a quarterback who is making better reads, going through his progressions and making smarter throws.

UCLA head coach Karl Dorrell agrees.

"He's commander of this ship on offense," said Dorrell of Olson. "That's how you build confidence.

"He's much different, much more confident in what he's doing."

In his best performance in college thus far, Olson completed 25 of 33 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns Saturday. According to Dorrell, Olson made one mistake, missing a Cardinal blitz, which forced an intentional grounding penalty.

"He got us into all the right checks," said Dorrell. "He got us off to a good start. We're hoping to build on this."

Disappointed in the way he executed some of his shorter, touch passes to the backfield, Olson felt "like I could have done a lot better." It is a scary proposition for BYU.

By the time he left the stadium Saturday, Kehl had already left a message on his former roommates' voice mail.

"It wasn't a malicious message," said Olson. "We'll chat it up a bit this week."

In the offseason, Olson joked that, "I'll ask him what defenses they're going to run and what blitzes they're going to bring. I'm sure he'll give me that information."

But both players understand that they have a job to do today.

Kehl told former Star staffer Rhiannon Potkey, who now covers BYU for the Salt Lake Tribune: "Outside linebackers get sacks, and that is what I have to do."