Nick Novak finally has a kicking job to call his own.

Novak won the competition Friday when the Chiefs informed him he will be their kicker when the regular season begins Sept. 7 against the Patriots in New England. They also told rookie Connor Barth he would be placed on waivers.

Novak, 27, has kicked in 16 games for Washington and Arizona but always as a temporary injury replacement and never as an incumbent.

“It’s awesome when you work so hard and then something like this finally happens,” Novak said. “It’s been a great seven months of competition, and now I can put it all behind me and look ahead to what I hope is a long career kicking for the Chiefs. To have it all finally come together like this and realize my dream of being an NFL kicker, it feels like I’m walking on the moon.

“The confidence is definitely there. I fully believe I’ll go up to New England and hit the game-winning field goal for the Chiefs.”

To keep the job, Novak will need to fare better than Justin Medlock or Dave Rayner, two of last year’s three Chiefs kickers. They combined to make just 16 of 24 field-goal attempts.

While the Chiefs would prefer Novak kicks for them all season and beyond, when they sent Barth home they advised him to keep his cell phone close at all times.

“They told me that if Nick doesn’t do as well as they think he will, I should stay ready,” said Barth, who kicked the last four years in college at North Carolina.

The Chiefs didn’t announce the move because of what coach Herm Edwards called “competitive” reasons. Without identifying the kicker they kept, Edwards said, “That was always a tough one. You just weigh all of the situations. They both did a great job. We feel they both can kick in this league. It’s just a matter of picking a guy and sometimes when you’re in that situation the competition is so close it’s your gut and what you feel you have to do.

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"We've had some great tandems around here in the past, but I don't know if we've ever had the three, four and five guys be as good as what we've got this year," the Chiefs guard said after Friday's 21-17 preseason finale win against St. Louis.

In a perfect world, the Chiefs would keep three, and possibly four, halfbacks with one fullback in a five-member backfield. Picking four backs is easy: starter Larry Johnson, backup halfback Kolby Smith, rookie speedster Jamaal Charles and undrafted rookie fullback Mike Cox seem assured of positions.

Smith averaged 6.3 yards on six runs against the Rams while Charles averaged 7.2 on six while playing with Johnson sidelined by a wet field.

But the Chiefs also like powerful halfback Jackie Battle, who averaged 6.1 yards on his nine carries during mop-up time of the Rams game; and undrafted rookie Dantrell Savage, who may get a roster spot despite almost playing his way out of one Friday night.