Alex Smith has been there before. A freshman starter behind center in 2004, Smith quickly moved his way up the Red Dragon Record book. By his junior year, he had thrown for 35 touchdown passes and more than 4,400.

But all that changed midway through the '06 season. In a game at Western Connecticut State, Smith tore the ACL in his right knee. Then, after nearly a year of rehab he returned for the 2007 opener only to tear the same ACL again.

"I had surgery again. I rehabbed again. I worked hard. At that time in '08, I didn't feel like I could be my usual self," said Smith.

So, instead of returning to the field, Smith joined Dan MacNeill's coaching staff. It appeared his playing career was over. That is until three weeks ago, when this year's starter Dan Pitcher lost his season because of injury.

"The assistant athletic director in charge of compliance came down and asked if Alex had spoken to me. I said he hadn't, and he said, 'well, here's the situation.'" MacNeill said.

What the AD told MacNeill was despite already being in school for 10 semesters, Smith had filed a waiver with NCAA to get one more season eligibility. And it was granted. So, when the Dragons third string quarterback went down last week, Smith got the nod.

"It's a dream. I still got a lot to work on, but I'll be good to go," Smith said.

And Smith says when he's back on the field, he won't be worried about his past injuries and neither will his coach..

"If you lived in a paranoid moment, you'd never be able to perform. And he's a real competitor," MacNeill said.

"I don't think there's no coming back after this year, so this is it," said Smith.

But it's a whole lot more than he could have ever imagined a year ago.