No, not the see-the-light, earth-moving change, but things were just a little different after that day than they were before in his Football life.

"I do think it dates to that," Jackson said. "We played Green Bay and (cornerback) Al Harris lined up on me and stayed with me all over the field. I had seen him do that sometimes, but only against guys like Randy Moss. So when he did that to me, it was exciting, I thought maybe from then on I was starting to get the respect of defensive coordinators."

And if that wasn't enough, the Northern Colorado graduate then blistered defenses in the postseason a year ago with a 114-yard game against the Titans in the wild-card round and three consecutive games of at least 93 yards in the postseason overall. His 300 receiving yards in the playoffs led the league.

"That was huge, man," Jackson said. "That was a big moment for me. Coming into this year as well, it gave me a lot of confidence, gave our coaching staff a lot more confidence in me I think. And it wasn't like I did anything different. It was just a matter of them saying, 'Hey, look, we've got this guy here, let's get more balls to him.' "

Consider that done as well. And with the Broncos and Chargers set to play Sunday night with a playoff spot on the line, it's Jackson who is on the list of problems for the Broncos to deal with, his name next to the likes of tight end Antonio Gates and running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

Since being shut out in the Chargers' loss to Atlanta on Nov. 30, Jackson has 18 receptions for 348 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games.

All three of those games were Chargers wins, and that win streak has moved San Diego from 4-8 and out of the playoff picture to 7-8 and playing for a January spot Sunday night.

"Watching him go from last season to this one and then from the beginning of the season to now, he's turned himself into a force. . . . He's one of the people that's hard to deal with," Broncos defensive coordinator Bob Slowik said.

At 6-foot-5, 241 pounds, Jackson is a fleet-footed quandary for defenses. Big enough to overpower most cornerbacks and fast enough - he ran 4.46 seconds in the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine leading to the 2005 draft - to run by many as well.

Jackson often lines up on the offensive right for the Chargers, which would put him across from eight-time Pro Bowl selection Champ Bailey. The Broncos have matched Bailey on receivers before, allowing him to follow them all over the field, but Bailey just returned to the lineup Sunday after being out for two months.

Bailey stayed with Moss much of the time in New England earlier this season until Bailey left the game because of a groin injury that caused him to then miss seven games.

Moss had only one catch when Bailey was in the game before having four receptions, including two touchdowns, after Bailey went to the sideline.

"He's stepped up big," Bailey said of Jackson. "The guy's capable of doing everything, going across the middle, go deep, he's definitely been the top guy this year."

For Jackson, the idea that his first 1,000-yard season in the NFL came in his fourth year in the league isn't all that strange. At Northern Colorado, where he also started for the basketball team, Jackson caught nine and 22 passes in his first two years at the school.

But in his third year he had 66 catches, 1,462 yards and 21 touchdowns before following that with 80 catches for 1,382 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Chargers coach Norv Turner has seen the same kind of developmental curve now.

"I just think the experiences he had the second half of the year, the production he had, the success he had in the playoffs just did a lot for his confidence," Turner said. "And he came back here and had a great offseason and had a great training camp.

"He's gotten where he can go play and relax and he's not thinking about 'Am I supposed to be 18 yards or 20 yards deep? Am I cutting off my inside foot? Am I going three steps to the post?' He's just reacting and doing it. You can just see the rapport with Philip (Rivers). . . . He's just playing with a lot of confidence."

The Broncos have surrendered three 100-yard games to receivers this season - Miami's Greg Camarillo (11 catches, 111 yards), Atlanta's Roddy White (5-102) and Carolina's Steve Smith (9-165) - but Jackson has had two in the past three weeks.

And the Chargers are more apt to try to get Jackson down the field because Turner said this week San Diego has to continue to try to create room for Tomlinson to work along the line of scrimmage against defenses loaded up to stop the running back.

"We've been capitalizing on some mismatches and Norv and the coaches have done a great job getting me more involved. I feel like when they do that, I can contribute to the offense," Jackson said. "If you have a bigger receiver these days, you can definitely stretch the field. And if we stretch the field, we've got a lot of weapons to make it hard for a defense."

INFOBOX

Go big

Of the receivers in the league who have topped 1,000 yards this season, Colorado Springs' Vincent Jackson leads the way in yards per catch.

Player, team Catches Yards Yds/catch

Vincent Jackson, Chargers 57 1,051 18.4

Calvin Johnson, Lions 69 1,229 17.8

Steve Smith, Panthers 73 1,287 17.6

Greg Jennings, Packers 75 1,191 15.9

Roddy White, Falcons 85 1,334 15.7

Antonio Bryant, Buccaneers 80 1,171 14.6

Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals 91 1,301 14.3

Reggie Wayne, Colts 81 1,130 14.0

Andre Johnson, Texans 105 1,427 13.6

Brandon Marshall, Broncos 98 1,210 12.3