Foster Moreau's No. 18 honor sinks in during conversation with Jacob Hester

The significance of LSU's No. 18 jersey didn't immediately hit Foster Moreau as he dressed Saturday afternoon.

"Put it on, didn't even think about it," he said. "Had my shorts on, had my tights on. Grabbed it, put it on, put on my helmet, was walking out."

And there was former star running back Jacob Hester, the second player in the program's now 15-year tradition of passing the number down from one team leader to the next.

"Walked past Jacob Hester," Moreau said, reenacting a shocked realization and pause with wide eyes. "'Oh, my gosh!' Stopped and talked to Jacob for about 20 minutes. Like, I was almost late because I was talking to Jacob. I was like, 'Wow, wait, this is serious. We've got to talk about this. This is crazy.' It was cool.

"And then I kind of got off the bus, and the LSU football cameras were flashing and I was like, 'OK, yeah. Got it.'"

The 6-foot-6, 255-pound senior tight end admitted to being "dumbfounded" and "stunned" by the opportunity.

"It just takes me back to watching guys like Jacob Hester, watching guys like Brandon Taylor, watching Lamin Barrow, watching guys that I've idolized as players and pillars of collegiate football," he said. "It was like a dream that I didn't even realize I had until it came up."

Moreau wasn't even sure about three and a half years ago whether he would get the chance to play football at LSU at all, let alone end up selected to carry on the increasingly well-known No. 18 tradition.

He remembers waking up late for school on the morning of National Signing Day in 2015 and assuming he would be joining former Jesuit teammate Tanner Lee at nearby Tulane.

"I was doing the math in my head all week," Moreau said. "I was counting the numbers to see if it would work out. And I could've gone to Tulane, and that would've been cool. I would've played with my high school quarterback, and that would've been OK.

"But in my heart, I knew what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to come here, and I knew I wanted to play LSU football. I had always loved it my entire life."

His mother convinced him to take a shower at about 10 a.m., in preparation for the high school's scheduled signing ceremony at noon.

A mid-shower ring sent the shampoo-haired standout bolting for his phone where former coach Les Miles and former offensive coordinator Cam Cameron would extend his dream scholarship offer.

Now, he enters his final college season among the program's most visible leaders after Friday's presentation.

He thought teammates such as defensive end Rashard Lawrence, safety John Battle, linebacker Devin White, running back Nicholas Brossette or offensive lineman Garrett Brumfield might draw the honor.

Instead, he was touched that those players were among the first to congratulate him late Friday.

"I just think there are so many good 18's on this team, so many guys who have gone through adversity and just been really good and could've donned the jersey so, so well," he said. "Those guys were the first guys to walk up and congratulate me. It was surreal. It was really cool.

"That's how I know this is how this is a good team. This is an incredible team, because everyone's selfless. They want your success. Winners want to see other winners win, and these guys were coming up saying, 'Hey, man, congratulations. This is a huge honor. You deserve it.'"

He turned his phone back on following that meeting, cleared the slew of texts, missed calls and tweets he had missed.

And then called his mother.

"And she's like, 'I'm not getting another jersey!'" he joked. "She's tearing up, 'I've got an 84 one! I'm not getting another one!' I'm like, 'OK, that's fine, mom.' And she says, 'I'll get another jersey.'"

Tricia Moreau went on to reference the incredible nature of her son's journey from uncertainty whether a scholarship offer would ever come to following in the footsteps of Hester, Taylor, Barrow, Matt Mauck, Tre'Davious White and other No. 18's.

"I haven't gotten to take my time and really appreciate the moment yet because it does come right in the heat of camp," Foster said. "We're just getting started. We've got a bunch of installs going in. That's exactly what my mom said to me, and I recognized that, and I understood it.

"I just haven't gotten to take the time to sit back and appreciate that, because we've got work to do. We've got a lot of work to do if we want to be the team we want to be and if we want to achieve the goals we've set."