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Junior Taylor says he’s not about to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. And that’s good to hear. Of course if you’ve been watching Taylor the past two-plus seasons, you already know he’s not exactly the most sure-handed receiver.

But Taylor, now a junior, has a chance to put the past behind him. The dropped passes. The injuries. The inconsistency. Those will all be forgotten if he comes up big this month while injured receiver Craig Bragg nurses his dislocated shoulder back to health.

“This is why I came to UCLA,” Taylor said, “to be the No. 1 guy and to be the main receiver. Now that Craig is out, it’s my turn, and I’m looking forward to it.”

It’s not that Taylor hasn’t been productive as a Bruin. He caught 24 passes last season and has averaged more than 12 yards per catch throughout his UCLA career.

Yet how many of those catches can you recall? How many kept a drive alive or set up a crucial touchdown? Very few. That’s why you probably remember Taylor more for the balls he didn’t catch than for the ones he did.

Taylor, who was hampered by a sports hernia last season, hauled in just one pass in UCLA’s final four games: a forgettable four-yard completion in garbage time against USC. He also dropped a key fourth-quarter pass against Colorado in the season opener last year, and he let a deep ball carom off his chest during last month’s Oklahoma State loss.

Not exactly the All-American performance you expect from a guy who will be asked to fill Bragg’s shoes next year.

But this season, the 6-foot-2-inch, 205-pound receiver is determined not to succumb to injury or fade down the stretch again. Taylor was in Bragg’s shadow during the offseason. He ran with Bragg, lifted weights with him and picked his brain about the nuances of the position.

Now that he’s injury-free, comfortable with the offense, and in the best shape of his career, it’s probably no coincidence that Taylor is finally showing signs of living up to his prep press clippings.

Sure, he didn’t register a catch against Oklahoma State. But he’s done more than enough to entrench himself in the starting lineup, even after Tab Perry’s much ballyhooed return to the Bruins after a yearlong hiatus. Taylor snared a pair of balls at Illinois the following week and then caught four second-half passes in UCLA’s 37-31 victory two weeks ago in Seattle.

“Last season is behind me,” Taylor said. “It was hard trying to learn a new offense and fighting through injuries. This year I’m healthy, and I know the offense like the back of my hand.”

Replacing Bragg won’t fall on Taylor’s shoulders alone. Perry, tight end Marcedes Lewis and a steady dose of Maurice Drew should help with that.

But expect Taylor to get his chance. Coach Karl Dorrell knows Taylor is a talent, and he’s going to give him every chance to live up to his potential.

That has to have the San Diego State secondary feeling a bit uneasy, considering how Taylor torched them a year ago. He caught seven passes for 118 yards and a touchdown, a 41-yard strike from Olson that put the game out of reach.

Taylor hasn’t come close to those numbers since that game, but he’d like to duplicate them again Saturday.

Now is the time for Taylor to prove he can sustain that success.

There are no more excuses. He’s healthy. He’s facing a familiar foe. He’s got a quarterback who will be doing everything he can to find ways to get him the ball.

“I want to be the guy Drew (Olson) is looking for,” Taylor said. “I expect to see a lot of balls.”

He can count on that. Of course, it’s still up to Taylor to catch them.

Eisenberg’s column will appear every Monday during football season. E-mail him at jeisenberg@media.ucla.edu.