Brennan Jackson

Jackson attended Great Oak High School in Temecula, California. He played on both offense and defense on the football team. On offense he caught 12 passes for 193 yards. On defense he racked up 150 tackles with 21 going for a loss, six sacks, two pass deflection, a fumble recovery, and three forced fumbles.^[1] Jackson committed to play college football at Washington State over other schools such as Arizona, California, and Hawaii.^[2]

As a freshman in 2019, Jackson recorded one tackle, and 0.5 tackles for loss.^[3] In the 2020 season opener, he racked up seven tackles and 0.5 sacks in a 38–28 win over Oregon State.^[4] Jackson finished the 2020 season with 19 tackles with 3.5 being for a loss, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.^[5] In week five of the 2022 season, Jackson had a career day posting four tackles, two sacks, and a pass deflection, as he would help Washington State beat California 21–6. He was named the Pac-12 defensive lineman of the week, being the first Washington State player to receive the award.^[6] The following week, Jackson recorded his first career interception off a tipped ball thrown by Chance Nolan, helping the Cougars defeat Oregon State 31-24.^[7] In the next week in week seven, Jackson tallied six tackles, a sack, and the game-winning fumble recovery, as he helped the Cougars beat Stanford 34–31. He was again named the Pac-12 defensive lineman of the week.^[8][9] Jackson finished the 2021 season with 43 tackles with 6.5 of them going for a loss, 4.5 sacks, two pass deflections, an interception, and a fumble recovery.^[10] In week eleven of the 2022 season, Jackson put up five tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble on quarterback Trenton Bourguet, helping Washington State beat Arizona State 28-18 and become bowl eligible.^[11] For his performance, Jackson earned the Pac-12 defensive lineman of the week honors.^[12] Jackson finished the 2022 season with 41 tackles with 12 being for a loss, six sacks, three pass deflections, and a forced fumble.^[13] For his performance, Jackson was named second-team all Pac-12.^[14] Jackson was named second-team all Pac-12 ahead of the 2023 season.^[15] Jackson was also named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, which is awarded to the nation's best defensive player.^[16]