"BG is going to come in here ready to work. They're going to get after us," he said Monday. "For the longest time, I've been telling (teammates) ... Bowling Green, like, do not take them lightly. If we do take them lightly, they'll come in here and they'll embarrass us."

A move from Ohio to Texas isn't the only one Howell has made in his football career. A native of Kansas City, he's already made the rounds in middle America. He's also done the same on the football field.

"Growing up, I was a running back, and then I was kind of in the secondary," he said. "The first time I ever took snaps at edge rusher was, like, my sophomore year, JV football. There was no depth at the edge position on that team for some reason. And then my coachlooked at me. He was like, 'Look, I need to align right here, run around the fat guy - respectfully- go get the quarterback. I said, 'Okay, I could try this. Try this out.' First play, I promise, first play ever, that rush was a strip sack, fumble, touchdown. So I'm like, 'Is this really all you got to do?'"

After finally finding a home on the football field, he appeared on the radar screens of teams throughout the Midwest. He ended up spending three seasons at Bowling Green, racking up 9.5 sacks and an Honorable Mention All-MAC nod last season with the Falcons.

Howell said he nearly didn't enter the transfer portal after the 2023 season ended, but decided to do so a matter of days before it closed. Even though teams like Texas A&M and other major programs came after him quickly, he was brutally honest with himself when it came to playing at his next stop.

"I subconsciously told myself, like, you know, this isn't going to be easy. You're not just going to come here and just go through the motions and expect to play," he said. "These are 4-, 5-star recruits, number one players in the class, number one players (in the portal). You got to come in here, got to have a chip on your shoulder and do everything right."

So far, Howell has come close doing that, carving out a role on a defense that incluldes big names like Nic Scourton, Shemar Stewart and Shemar Turner. Serving in a hybrid rush end/linebacker role at JACK, Howell already has 9 tackles and picked up his first Aggie sack when he took down Florida's DJ Lagway Saturday.

With spring practice, training camp and now a win over Florida out of the way, Howell has already recognized differences in between SEC talent and the level of play he saw in the MAC.

"I would just say the competitive edge would be one (difference). The size of the offensive lineman will be two," he said. "And then the third one, I would just say, overall, just kind of like, how they have their wits about (them) ... just how they operate, and whether that has to do with coaching or, you know, just overall, whatever it has to do with it."

With the high level of talent and competition on the Aggie defensive line, it wouldn't be shocking if that competition led to difficult relationships. Howell said that, to the contrary, the new arrivals and veterans have hit it off well.

"Everyone's good, you know, I'm I get along with everyone pretty much on D line, you know, very, very cool guys, for sure," he said.

All the same, there will be some weird emotions when Howell lines up against his former teammates Saturday night (6:30 p.m., ESPN+/SECN+).

"Those are my best friends. Like a lot of those guys, they're going to be in my wedding and stuff like that," he said. "So, you know, it's, it's obviously no bad blood."

Best friends or not, the Falcons will be in Howell's way once the ball is kicked off -- and he knows what he has to do.

"It's good to see that, you know, we're doing what we're supposed to do, and we've ot to continue to keep progressing," he said. "And you know, just keep trying to get better every day."

Respectfully, of course.