PINE BLUFF — The trick is to convince yourself they’re not watching, even when you know they are.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff seniors Tim Turner and Ledarius Anthony have had practically every move they’ve made on the football field this season scouted, evaluated and analyzed. They’ve had strangers ask them about their families, their grades, their backgrounds and whether or not they have children.

They’ve had binoculars trained on them in practices and games to check for subtle signs of loafing.

“You’ve got to go harder,” said Anthony, a senior defensive end. “You can’t take plays off. You can’t walk or jog. You’ve got to keep running.”

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Anthony and Turner are playing in the relative hinterlands of the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA ) for a team that has yet to win a game this season. But both are well known to NFL scouts, who view the two as possible late-round picks in the NFL Draft.

“I’ve talked to several teams,” said Turner, a senior middle linebacker. “The Bills, Saints, Jaguars, Jets... there’s a few more. Most told me they liked me.”

Turner, 6-1, 220, has collected 50 tackles over five games, keeping him on pace with the team-best 122 tackles that gave him All-Southwestern Athletic Conference honors a year ago. Scouts like Turner’s play, but they’re even more enamored with his potential — 2008 marks only the fifth season of organized football for the former Little Rock Parkview product.

Anthony, 6-4, 245, has totaled 17 tackles and three sacks — far off the 66 stops he recorded last season. As a defensive end, Anthony’s reputation from 2007 has preceded him, and caused opponents to run their plays to the other side.

Like Turner, Anthony arrived at UAPB as an unknown commodity after an undistinguished career at Pine Bluff High School. While other SWAC programs expressed interest, Anthony liked the idea of playing for his hometown university where his mother, Juanita, is a professor of computer science.

His total tackles are down, but Anthony said the scouts have been more concerned with his athleticism, his pass rushing technique and his willingness to keep his motor running on every play.

“They’re not worried about my stats,” Anthony said.

Looking good on the field is only the first half of the NFL equation. After the season comes the opportunity for both to work out individually for professional scouts — yet another test of blocking out pressure.

“That’s going to be the difference between thousands of dollars,” Turner said.

Both players seem solidly aware that the odds of making a living in pro football are slim. Turner plans to graduate with a degree in social studies education and plans to start teaching and coaching if he fails to latch on with a professional organization.

Anthony, meanwhile, will stay in step with his mother by earning a degree in computer science.

Both also seem to understand the early attention doesn’t guarantee anything down the road, which is probably why both seem intent on helping UAPB win football games first and foremost.

After all, that’s what’s gotten them to this point.

“You know what comes first,” Turner said. “If you don’t perform, they stop coming.”