BEREA, Ohio — Baldwin High alum Kaluka Maiava knows how to nail a job interview.

During a meeting just before the NFL draft, Cleveland Browns coach Eric Mangini asked about his hobbies. Hunting — without a gun, Maiava replied.

"He is a tough, tough guy," Mangini said today at rookie minicamp.

Mangini was impressed enough with Maiava's entire resume to draft him in the fourth round last weekend. The Browns also drafted former University of Hawai'i athlete David Veikune in the second round.

The Maui-raised Maiava started 13 games as a senior on USC's star-studded defense — the other three starting linebackers were drafted in the first two rounds — and will compete for a job on the Browns as an inside linebacker.

But training camp can't quite compare to chasing wild boars through the mountains of Maui with nothing but a couple of dogs, a knife and a stick.

"We don't use guns. That's cheating," Maiava said today. "Anybody can shoot something. It's the rush to chase something and tackle it, just like football."

Maiava has applied that toughness and agility training to the football field.

He was a two-time USC co-special teams player of the year, and hauled in 66 total tackles — seven for a loss — as a senior. He was also named defensive MVP of January's 38-24 Rose Bowl win over Penn State.

Maiava is undersized at 5-foot-11, 226 pounds, but bench pressed 225 pounds 30 times at the scouting combine.

"If I'm 5-11, I'm 5-11. I've got to make the most of it," he said.

Maiava will start out on special teams in Cleveland, competing for playing time behind starters D'Qwell Jackson and Eric Barton.

But he's been surrounded by top linebacker talent the last four years. Fellow USC linebackers Brian Cushing, Clay Matthews III and Rey Maualuga graced the cover of Sports Illustrated before the draft and were all gone by pick No. 38.

"You see how they play and they're great athletes," Maiava said. "You try to play up to their par, try to be as fast as them, try t o play as aggressive as them, make more tackles."

Mangini said he interviewed all four of the Trojan linebackers and was impressed with Maiava's intelligence and temperament.

And his willingness to kill a wild boar with his hands.

"You eat everything you kill," Maiava said, comparing the taste to chicken. "It's good eating."