Steven Trimble was a permanent fixture at Michie Stadium and on the grounds of West Point over the past several years as he and his wife, Gretchen made it their business to attend as many Army football games as a possible.

This despite his own commitment as head coach at Bishop O'Connell High School out of Ashburn, Virginia, where his sons' football skills were nurtured.

It started with son Jeremy, followed by Jordan and now it's sophomore starting Mike linebacker, Justin Trimble who is now carrying the family torch for the Army Black Knights.

That Trimble legacy is also being felt at Virginia Tech, where younger brother Joshua is a redshirt freshman for the Hokies .... can't get them all.

But on July 11th, the Trimble foundation was shaken, when the 53 year old patriarch died of an apparent heart attack.

As the sophomore linebacker transitions through one of the most difficult times that he has experienced in his young life, he knows that time moves on, as he hangs onto the embellishing words of wisdom from his dad.

"Basically I'm just doing what my dad would want me to do," Justin shared with GoBlackKnights.com prior to Army's practice on Wednesday. "He always talked about finishing what you started, putting all your effort into something and so basically, I can't quit because of what took place. He just pushes me everyday, just thinking about him pushes me."

- Army Linebacker, Justin Trimble talking about his dad, Steve.

As such, Trimble had to get ready for his first starting assignment last week against San Diego State and now this Saturday's upcoming opponent out of The Big Ten, Northwestern.

It was that same "push me" effort that allowed the Black Knights as a team to battle San Diego State down to the wire last Saturday. A huge difference from their season opening loss to Northern Illinois.

"Coming out of the first game, we were really embarrassed about how we had played and we knew that we needed to step it up," adds Trimble. "We knew that San Diego State was coming to town so it was a perfect opportunity if we just practice real hard. I was just focused and I had forgot about the last game (NIU), just focus on San Diego State ... I was determined, but we came up just a little short."

For Trimble, he knew his dad would have been right there in there at Michie Stadium as #5 was anointed with his first college start against the Aztecs.

"It felt great starting," says Trimble as he reflects on that moment from last Saturday and says that his approach in practice was basically the same. "I found out the beginning of practice on Tuesday. My preparation was the same, just taking more reps in practice."

Although his dad wasn't around to share in the moment, the 5-foot-11, 200 pounder had more than enough family support to share in that special moment of his football career. "I let my family know and they were all happy for me," he adds.

For the Army defense, they will be faced with not only a very physical Northwestern offense, but one that runs the spread effectively and is equally athletic.

"Right now we're mixing around our defense to find out what we can do to make it work," Trimble declares. "We know they are solid team, they're big and physical team. We are just trying to get our game ready for them."

For the Virginia native, he knows like many freshmen who step on campus directly out of high school, that there is a tremendous learning and physical curve that one must endure.

For Trimble, who is looking ahead to Saturday's contest, he can look back and see that his best football days are ahead of him.

"I believe that I have gotten a lot smarter and I have been able to see things that I wasn't able to see last year, like watching other teams to see where I need/should be," he states. "Last year I was just trying to just get on the field, but this year I am trying to actually produce and be smarter in how I look at the game."

And that's exactly how Steve Trimble would have liked it.