Western Kentucky defensive back Marcus Ward (left) prepares for practice Tuesday at Houchens-Smith Stadium.

Marcus Ward was packing his belongings to head home and came across his bowl rings. Ward, Western Kentucky’s graduate senior whose career has been a rollercoaster ride the past two seasons, put all three rings on his hand.

“I was thinking to get another one would be so cool,” Ward said.

Saturday’s Cure Bowl in Orlando, Fla., against Georgia State represents the last game for senior Hilltoppers. It might have a little more sentiment for Ward, who says he came back to football for his teammates after an injury ended his senior season in 2016.

The Hilltoppers and Panthers kick off from Orlando at 1:30 p.m. CST Saturday, with the game airing on CBS Sports Network.

Ward hasn’t played since reinjuring his knee against Vanderbilt on Nov. 4. Now healthy, Ward will get a chance to return to the field with teammates one final time Saturday.

“It’ll be fun,” Ward said after practice Tuesday. “The main reason I came back was for my teammates, so one last time to go out there and just play with those guys, we’ll be looking to get another W and another bowl win. It’ll be fun.”

First-year coach Mike Sanford said he approached the 6-foot-3, 220-pound safety about playing a few days after the 6-6 Hilltoppers learned they were bowl bound for the fourth straight year.

Ward was a four-year starter and named a team captain in 2016 before suffering a season-ending knee injury in the second game of the year at Alabama. He was cleared for a medical redshirt and returned in 2017 with 139 tackles and two interceptions to his resume, but it’s been a slow recovery.

The Birmingham, Ala., native has just three tackles against Ball State on Sept. 23 and an assisted tackle in the opener against Eastern Kentucky on his seven-game stat line for this season.

He reaggravated the same knee on the first defensive series against Old Dominion on Oct. 20.

“Marcus Ward has been on a steady road to recovery,” Sanford said. “I talked to Marcus right after we got this bowl selection … and I said let’s finish this thing on a high note. I want to see you out there. I want to see No. 8 out there and do whatever you can to help this team with the leadership you’ve provided over your time here and this year. It’s only a fitting way to go out there with you on the field.”

Ward said his knee feels the best it has since his first surgery over a year ago. He said he’s only had to get it cleaned a few times this season and he’ll be ready to go Saturday.

He’s remained upbeat this year by mentoring a secondary that moved to a base 4-2-5 defense this season under coordinator Clayton White. The defensive coordinator praised Ward’s leadership in how he handled mentoring redshirt freshman Devon Key.

“He’s meant a lot since we got here,” White said. “His voice, his leadership and his presence is huge. He made some plays in camp and his leadership and his ability to retain our information on defense, mainly, he really coached up Devon Key once he realized it wasn’t his year to really get a lot of reps. He did a good job coaching up a young Devon Key, who as you see is emerging as a good young player.”

Ward could’ve entered the career field well-off and away from the possibility of further risking his health on the football field. He graduated last year with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in the same area.

Back in August, Ward attended the Campbell Trophy Summit at Stanford University to learn about leadership from sports and business figures. The trophy was conceived to recognize football players for on-field performance, academic success and community involvement.

He was named a semifinalist for that award and was also on the 2017 AFCA Good Works Team Watch list for volunteer involvement with youth organizations such as Junior Achievement of South Central Kentucky, the Church on Main Street and Read Across America.

“It’s definitely been a roller coaster, but it’s been one that I went through in my head the night I came back,” Ward said. “It’s one of those things where I had a lot of stuff going for me outside of football, but I came back for reasons that were important to me and my teammates were important. Football has been a big part of my life and I just wanted to keep that up. It’s just been a good ride all in all and looking forward to capping it off with a bowl win.”{&end}