Senior wide receiver Mark Philmore was back in practice Tuesday, one week after leaving the team for personal reasons.

“It feels great to be back,” Philmore said. “I had a couple things I had to sort through off the field and on the field at the same time. I was able to take a step back and get everything figured out.”

Philmore wore a red jersey in practice Wednesday. The color signifies limited partcipation in contact drills.

Northwestern coach Randy Walker said Philmore is cleared to play, it is just a matter of when Philmore feels he is ready to go against full contact.

“He’s come back to the program in better mental shape than he was when he left,” Walker said. “But he was struggling with injury. With the set-backs he had, it was almost the ‘Why me?’ mentality, like, ‘Here we go again.’ I think he’s over that now and he’s ready to move forward.”

Philmore said when he left the team, a timetable was not set for his return.

“It wasn’t so much when I decided to come back, it was more, I got together with the coaching staff,” Philmore said. “We just thought the little time I had off was all I needed.”

He had been hampered by injuries the first two games of the season, and was limited saw limited action. The receiver was kept to five catches for 44 yards.

Philmore is coming off a season in which he led the team and set career highs with 54 catches for 633 yards.

The game against No. 18 Arizona State was the first contest in Philmore’s career he missed for a reason other than injury.

“This is my senior year, this is the last opportunity I have to go out there and play,” Philmore said. “I just have to make everything count.

“I’m back, and I’m not going anywhere.”

trial and Error

In the first three games this season, NU has used three different combinations on the defensive line.

Eight different players have started on the line so far, including junior linebacker Demetrius Eaton, who started at defensive end against Arizona State because of the defensive line’s lack of depth.

“We’re trying to find the four guys that can go out and get the job done for us,” said defensive coordinator Greg Colby. “Obviously, based on Saturday’s game, we haven’t found that yet. We think we know who they are, we just have to get them coached up better and play the plays better, and they’ll eventually come around.”

Colby said Saturday’s likely starters will be senior Barry Cofield and junior Trevor Schultz at the defensive tackles, and redshirt freshman Kevin Mims and freshman Corey Wooten at the ends.

The Wildcats have recorded two sacks in three games, which is one of the many reasons Colby said the lineup has not been solidified.

“Last year, when Loren (Howard) was in we had a true pass rusher,” Colby said. “This year we just don’t have players with that kind of pass rush speed, so we have to make due with what we have.”

‘Who likes to practice?’

Although Walker didn’t completly attribute NU’s loss to Arizona State to how his team practiced the Tuesday before the game, he said his team still needed to practice better.

Walker said practices this week have improved, and he said he realizes it is difficult for his players to stay focused at times.

“Practice is hard,” Walker said. “Who likes to practice? Nobody raises their hand. You hate practice, you hate doing it.

“You can just tell that sometimes they haven’t been all there.”

Senior quarterback Brett Basanez said the intensity at practice has picked up but the team still isn’t quite where it needs to be.

“It hasn’t always been perfect, but we need to make the adjustments, keep seeing the plays in our heads, and keep getting better until Saturday, ” Basanez said. “Tuesday and Wednesday don’t have to be perfect, they just have to be enthusiastic.”

Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].