MADISON, Wis. - Fall camp is here, which means Wisconsin’s quarterback battle between senior Bart Houston (6-foot-4, 235-pounds) and redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook (6-4, 219) is about to resume.

It could be a heated competition- there wasn’t much separation between Houston and Hornibrook during spring camp, especially after the team returned to practice after spring break, when Hornibrook appeared to be the more consistent performer.

But fall camp is a different animal than the spring. With less than four weeks to go until the Badgers take on No. 6 LSU up at Lambeau Field the Wisconsin coaching staff will have a difficult decision to make. They could go with the older, more experienced Houston, who played in a handful of games last fall in relief of Joel Stave. Or they could go with Hornibrook, who followed head coach Paul Chryst from Pittsburgh to Wisconsin and has a chance to start for four seasons if he were to win the job this fall.

It should be a tough decision either way for Chryst, who said in his pre-season press conference that he doesn’t want his quarterbacks to stop trying to push the envelope or play it safe now that they’re getting closer to game day.

“I think that spring is much more individual-specific,” Chryst said Sunday at Wisconsin’s local media day. “I think (in the spring) you can kind of make more mistakes, and you kind of want them to push the envelope.”

“And yet … I’m hesitating a little bit because I don’t ever want to zap that. You’re continuing to learn, you don’t ever get to a point where you’re good. All the quarterbacks I’ve had; you hope (they) continue to learn throughout the season.”

Both Houston and Hornibrook appear to have taken that to heart over the summer, as both quarterbacks had things they tried to improve on during the summer. Hornibrook said he focused on improving his film study in addition to the physical parts of his game.

“It was a little bit of an adjustment from high school when I came in, but we definitely watched a good amount of film to where I feel pretty comfortable with that, but I’m obviously still learning,” Hornibrook said.

For his part Houston said he wanted set a good example for other players and take on more of a leadership role in his fifth and final year on campus. Whether it was pushing himself in workouts or helping to organize throwing sessions with the wide receivers, Houston said he hopes his teammates will look to him if they need something this season.

“Now that I’m getting in to (a leadership role), Joel had four years to just be that guy- everybody was asking him questions, whereas I was just the guy sitting back and listening to him,” Houston said. “Now they’re coming to me to talk to me.”

“It’s just being the guy they come to talk to- I’ve embraced that role.”

But the competition between Houston and Hornibrook will ultimately be settled on the field- starting on Monday morning, when the team takes the field for their first practice of the fall. And while both quarterbacks were mum on what they thought they needed to do to win the job and start their first game against LSU, Chryst said he’s going to need both Houston and Hornibrook to be ready to play.

“The bottom line is we’ve got to get both Bart and Alex ready to play, because one will be the starter and one will be one play away from being that guy,” Chryst said Sunday. “So I think there’s a little more liberties in the spring, but I think you’ve got to be careful of making them in fall (try) to play perfect or play safe, because I don’t think you’re growing then.”

There’s a lot of growing for both players to do between now and Sept. 3, but Houston and Hornibrook seem ready for the challenge.

“It’s what we both love to do every single day, so it’s fun to get out there and play and compete,” Hornibrook said. “And at the same time, what coach always says: it’s about yourself, making sure you’re getting better. You kind of want to focus on yourself every day and do the best you can.”

“Honestly I feel like it’s whichever guy can (give) us the best chance to win the game is going to play.”

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.