Redshirt senior tailback Cameron Stingily wasn’t expected to play against Northwestern or Nevada-Las Vegas. He did play, and he made sure his impact was felt.

Stingily suffered an undisclosed injury prior to fall camp, and head coach Rod Carey said he expected the Huskies’ leading returning rusher to miss at least the first four games. But, Stingily returned in the second game against Northwestern. Carey said he knew “for a while” Stingily would be ready to go.

“I feel I’m back to 100 percent,” Stingily said. “I actually feel a little stronger now because I didn’t get banged up like everybody else did in [fall] camp, so I feel pretty good.”

Against the Wildcats, Stingily took six handoffs for 46 yards, with a good chunk of that yardage — 17 yards, to be exact — coming on a 4th-and-1 in Northwestern territory. Three plays later the Huskies scored a touchdown which put them ahead for good.

“I would say I’m pretty more comfortable than Northwestern because I was able to put some things on film, now I’m able to take them off,” Stingily said. “I guess you could say UNLV I was more confident with myself and with my read-keys than Northwestern. I was rusty; [the Northwestern game] was my first time being hit. Well, now I got that out the way [so] I feel pretty confident. I feel pretty good, actually.”

After getting those first round of hits out of the way, Stingily took a sizable portion of the load in the ground game for the Huskies against the Rebels. Redshirt senior tailback Akeem Daniels took only one carry in the game, and Carey said Daniels was “a little bumped and bruised.”

Stingily carried the ball 17 times for a team-best 102 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. His first touchdown opened the scoring for the Huskies and his last touchdown sealed the 48-34 victory.

With two games in the books and more practice reps each day, Carey said “Cam’s looked good.”

“Again, he is light a bunch of reps because he wasn’t with us in fall camp; [he was] dealing with the injury,” Carey said. “But, I think his pad level’s dropping, his ball security’s been good [and] his feet look alive. I think he’s responding well. It’s gonna be a process as we go here. … What I always say is game reps kind of count for three practice reps, so he’s catching up pretty quick.”

In his final campaign with the Huskies, Stingily said he’s excited to see the game day atmosphere of the SEC be the one delivering the hits when the Huskies take on the Arkansas Razorbacks 6 p.m. Saturday in Fayetteville, Ark.

“I looked at the depth chart; they’re no bigger than Northwestern, and I’m bigger than all their linebackers still,” Stingily said. “So, hopefully I’m out there delivering the blow.”