Cameras rolled, and Seneca Valley quarterback C.J. Brown felt a difference.

It was last Thursday against Erie McDowell, and Brown's Raiders were playing a game broadcast live on FSN Pittsburgh -- a game they would win, 38-33.

"It just felt bigger," Brown said. "I don't know exactly why, but to be on TV, the whole thing just felt bigger."

And, in what has come to be expected at Seneca Valley, no one was bigger than Brown.

You could call him Seneca Valley's version of Big Brown.

In the McDowell victory, he threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, completing 25 of 37 passes. He also ran for 85 yards and three scores.

The win propelled the Raiders to 2-0, and also marked the second time in two games Brown eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark this year.

Seneca Valley travels to Baldwin at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow in a non-conference clash. After that comes another non-conference matchup against Knoch next week, before the meat of the schedule arrives with Northern Six Conference play in Week 5 against North Allegheny.

"You have to look at these games, right now, as a chance to get better and a chance to work on the things that we need to do to grow as a team," Brown said. "You have to go out and play each team and look at it each week as a chance to improve. We are playing very well right now, and we need to keep working to get even better."

Truth is, Seneca Valley -- which went 6-4 and made the playoffs last year -- has improved this year because, simply put, Brown has improved even more. The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Maryland recruit was saddled by some with an unfair stigma headed into this year -- that he was simply a 5-step drop quarterback who didn't necessarily love to get hit.

"I am sure some people felt that way, and I know everyone has opinions and I know that some people might have thought that I wasn't physical enough or whatever." Brown said.

"But I am not that type of guy who just wants to throw it and I think that I have proved that to people who thought otherwise. If I need to run, I'll run. If I need to take a hit, I'll take a hit. I don't shy away from having to play physical."

He doesn't shy away from making the guys around him better, either.

A few tangible examples of that have been receiver Matt Plautz and running back Tyler Mack, whose games have opened up, and who both have seen heightened success due in part to the attention paid by opposing defenses to Brown.

Plautz caught 10 passes for 173 yards in the McDowell triumph while Mack was a force in the ground game, adding 167 yards and a touchdown.

Plautz, in particular, looks to have the most to gain from Brown's improved play.

A physical receiver who isn't afraid to go over the middle and catch passes, Plautz has received some attention from Division I schools, and his continued productivity could lead to a scholarship offer -- something Brown is well aware of.

"He is a great athlete, and our team success is helping him get noticed right now," Brown said of Plautz.

"I do know that I have a part in his success. I know that I can't necessarily force anything to him, you know, just to get him the ball.

"But, Matt is a good enough receiver and he is going to get open, and when he does, I am going to get him the ball. It is his job to get open, and mine to get him the football."