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2009 HIGHLIGHTS: GENERAL: Second-round draft choice, consensus All-American at USC in 2008, Maualuga earned No. 1 SLB position in preseason … Has started Games 1-9, totaling 47 tackles (third on team), with one sack and one pass defensed ... Tied for team lead in forced fumbles (two) ... Also has two tackles on special teams.

GAME-BY-GAME: Had five tackles Sept. 13 vs. Denver, and led special teams with two tackles ... Had a key forced fumble against RB Ryan Grant in third quarter Sept. 20 vs. Green Bay, with Bengals recovering at their 38 and driving 62 yards for TD that put Cincinnati ahead to stay ... Also vs. Green Bay, had a sack and forced fumble against Aaron Rodgers (Packers recovered) and totaled four tackles ... His six tackles Sept. 27 vs. Pittsburgh included a stop of RB Willie Parker for a two-yard loss, and he had a pass defensed … Also vs. Pittsburgh, left game in third quarter with a knee injury but returned to action in fourth quarter … Six tackles Oct. 4 at Cleveland … Had a personal season-high 10 tackles in win Oct. 11 at Baltimore, tying for team lead … Three tackles Oct. 25 vs. Chicago ... Two tackles Nov. 8 vs. Baltimore … Had seven tackles Nov. 15 at Pittsburgh as defense allowed Steelers only 226 net yards.

COACH MARVIN LEWIS SAYS: “You could see by the smiles on draft day that we were very excited to have picked Rey. He has made a lot of plays at the highest level and has a great nose for the ball. He’s an excellent blitzer, has played in space, and he can run with the skilled positions.”

COLLEGE HIGHLIGHTS: CAREER — Played 50 games with 34 starts over four seasons (2005-08) at USC … Named a freshman All-American in ’05, and was first-team All-Pac 10 in his final three seasons, topped by consensus All-America honors as a senior… Posted 273 career tackles, with nine sacks and 22.5 tackles-for-loss. 2008 — Played and started 12 games at MLB, missing Game 4 vs. Oregon due to knee sprain … Led team in tackles (79), matching his total of the previous year … Named Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts against Ohio State and UCLA, and his Ohio State performance included 48-yard INT return for a TD. 2007 — Earned All-America honorable mention as Trojans went 11-2, leading team with 79 tackles … Logged 10.5 tackles-for-loss and six sacks … Named game’s Defensive MVP in Rose Bowl win over Illinois, contributing three sacks and a 19-yard INT. 2006 — Played 13 games with 10 starts as a sophomore, posting 78 tackles to rank second on team … Consensus All-Pac 10 first-team choice … Semifinalist for Butkus Award (nation’s top LB). 2005 — Played as a reserve MLB behind Oscar Lua, but was a Freshman All-America first-team selection by Football Writers Association … Won USC’s John McKay Award, given to the Trojan showing the most competitive spirit … Helped lead Trojans to 12-0 record before loss to Texas in national championship game … Forced two fumbles that set up touchdowns in win over archrival UCLA.

WHEN HE HITS ‘EM … : Asked to describe a great hit, Maualuga says: “It’s hitting a guy and having him get up slowly, looking at who hit him. For a guy you hit and he gets right back up, that’s not a hit. That’s just a regular arm tackle. When a guy gets up slowly, looks at you and says, ‘I don’t want to get hit like that again,’ that’s a hit.”

TWO VIEWS: Cincinnati Enquirer sports columnist Paul Daugherty has written: “Five minutes on YouTube, watching Maualuga play, you’re checking your own dental work.” Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Daily News wrote: “(Maualuga) can be a sledgehammer or a ballerina. Dazzle with power or agility. Play with fury and control.”

HIGH SCHOOL: At Eureka (Calif.) HS, Maualuga was named a first-team All-American as a senior by both Parade and USA Today … Senior season included 96 tackles, two INT returns for TDs and one kickoff return for a TD … Helped Eureka to 20-2-1 record over his final two seasons … Spent his 2001 freshman year at St. Bonaventure HS in Ventura, Calif.

PERSONAL: Parents are native Samoans, and he grew up in a military family … Born in Oklahoma City, Okla., but moved with family as an infant to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he lived until age 12 … Later lived in Oxnard, Calif., and then Eureka, Calif. … Sociology major at USC … Name is pronounced “RAY mow(rhymes w/now)-uh-LOO-guh.”