SAN DIEGO – Two Fresno State players lay in their beds and talked football.
A couple of Bulldogs get legitimate interest from NFL teams every year, and the two players topped the list this fall.
Three weeks earlier, they scored a combined four touchdowns in a wild, 53-52 win against Illinois to close the season. They nursed some bumps and bruises after a loss to Wyoming in the New Mexico Bowl days earlier, but adrenaline lingered and then intensified.
Roommates for seven months, 
Hit the lights.
Draft day came fast, like a sunset in the Sierra Nevada, and Mathews became a sought-after commodity. The Chargers took an aggressive approach with a first-round trade that secured the running back with the No. 12 overall pick.
His roommate followed, but much later than he anticipated. San Diego signed Ajirotutu after the draft.
“I fell down, down, down. I just have to work hard,” Ajirotutu said. “I probably prefer it that way. I’ve got to do whatever I can to make the team.
“I could be flipping hamburgers at McDonald’s right now, but instead I’m living out a dream and doing this for a living.”
The running back’s spot on the roster is all but assured, but Ajirotutu will have to thrust himself above a pack of other undrafted free agents jostling for jerseys past training camp.
“(I) never thought it would be true,” the 6-foot-3, 211-pound receiver said of sharing an NFL locker room with Mathews. “Now we’ve got to work to stay here.”
With defenses focused on Mathews, Ajirotutu enjoyed his finest season last year, catching 49 passes for 677 yards and seven touchdowns. He turned into a big-play threat with the raw athleticism and frame to get downfield and compete for jump balls. He also proved a willing blocker on the edge, but knows he must refine several aspects of his game to stick in the NFL.
“Getting out of my breaks faster. Reading and reacting. Knowing where the defense is. Knowing certain splits and releases,” he said. “I need to know all that stuff a lot faster instead of thinking, ‘Alright, what do I do? What is this? What is that? Do I line up here?’”
Mathews called Ajirotutu a mature decision-maker.
Still roommates, the first-round pick said his teammate has eased the transition into NFL life. While the rest of the rookies shared a hotel room with a stranger, Mathews got a friend.
“The first couple days you don’t know anybody and might feel a little bit lonely. Since you know somebody, you can relate to him, and then you start branching out and meeting new people during the next couple of days and weeks,” Mathews said.
“He’s an all-around genuine guy. I like him a lot. He’s always there when you need him. He’s fun, too.”
TIDBITS: A San Francisco 49ers fan as a kid, living in Sacramento, “they’re out the door now,” Ajirotutu said … The receiver that goes by “Tutu” wore No. 2 in college, same as Pro Bowl running back Clifton Smith and receiver Bernard Berrian, both Fresno State alumni … He chose the Bulldogs over Boise State out of high school, the college that Chargers receiver
