Since arriving at N.C. State Tom O’Brien has focused first and foremost on having the best college football program in the state. Whether its winning the “in-state championship” like his team did two years ago when it defeated in-state rivals ECU, Wake, UNC and Duke all in the same season or winning the North Carolina recruiting battle, O’Brien has always aimed to have his program a step ahead of its instate rivals.   Through seven games, one of the top instate freshmen has been cornerback David Amerson. Amerson is one of three highly-touted North Carolina players who committed to State in February of 2010, a group that included offensive tackle Robert Crisp and wide receiver Anthony Creecy.    “We know we are never going to keep everyone in this state,” O’Brien said. “That is impossible these days. As we said before, we have to get our fair share. What we are doing is having the same assistant coaches go back to the same areas as before and they are building those relationships, and that is important.”   Out of this season’s true freshmen, Amerson has made the biggest impact, as he has been a consistent performer on special teams since the start of the season. He also managed to become the Pack’s starting cornerback for the past three games.    “It was fun, fast and adrenaline pumping,” Amerson said. “I was very excited, my family was excited and it was just a great experience.”   But the freshman from Dudley High School did not expect this much playing time this early on. Instead, Amerson focused on playing hard and competing every day in practice.    “When I came in I was just planning on competing,” Amerson said. “What ever happens happens and if they needed me to be on the field I would be one the field. But if they wanted me to be a backup I was going to be a backup.”   However, the coaches believed in Amerson’s ability and put him out there, even though he lacked experience playing cornerback after playing mostly safety throughout high school. But Amerson believes that it was his ability to understand the defense so quickly and his natural abilities that led him to starting so early on in his collegiate career.    “I guess it was my consistency in practice,” Amerson said.  ”It was just showing them that I understand the defense and was getting the game a little bit more and playing faster.”   And so far this season, Amerson has not disappointed. With 18 tackles in his first three starts, seven of which came against Boston College, a rare instance of O’Brien starting a true freshman has paid dividends.