Markese Stepp’s first three months at Nebraska went smoothly enough for a player making a big transition.
The transfer running back from USC moved from the coastal sunshine to winter in the heartland. From the Air Raid offense to the Big Ten West. The biggest similarity, really, was that he moved from one traditional college football power to another in jumping from the Trojans to the Cornhuskers.
Stepp made his decision well before the NCAA lifted its recruiting dead period, so he made the trip on his own before committing to Nebraska. He did his research and liked the fact that NU finished second in the Big Ten in rushing in 2020. He thought it felt a little bit more like home, which for Stepp is Indianapolis.
He got to campus and immediately missed two weeks with COVID-19, but then went through the program’s winter conditioning program and entered spring ball as presumably the leader in the clubhouse to be Nebraska’s primary back.
People are also reading…
On Day 2 in early April, though, he felt a tweak in his toe. An MRI led doctors to recommend surgery. Just like that, Stepp’s spring was over and his summer — like the pecking order in Ryan Held’s position group — suddenly went up in the air.
“Obviously, it was frustrating. You’re trying to get your feet wet and then you have a bump in the road when you’re thinking all the bumps are over,†said Stepp, who also missed games during his three seasons at USC and didn’t want to get into details of the injury on Wednesday. “With my teammates and Coach Held, them supporting me, especially since I was still transitioning, it made the transition a lot easier with them being there by my side.
“They always just kept reminding me that there’s a brighter side at the end of the tunnel.â€
Missing more than 13 practices of valuable repetitions for a player trying to get the hang of the system is a tough blow, though.
“It hurt a lot because you want to get those reps and get used to the offense,†Stepp said. “But one thing that I really made sure that I was mentally locked in while I was injured so I was getting mental reps and not taking a rep off. … That’s where I felt like, yeah, it sucked, but I had to find another way to still get those reps mentally.â€
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound back seems to be running toward daylight now.
In the coaching staff’s eyes, he's ahead of schedule in his recovery and has been making a push for playing time. At the outset of camp, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick admitted, NU wasn’t sure how much Stepp would be able to do.
The answer, it turns out, is plenty.
“It came down to me and my mind,†he said. “If I felt like I can go, I’m going to go. That’s how I’ve been feeling all of camp. The first day I felt good and I just went with it, and it’s been going good ever since.â€
Even in a wide-open race for playing time, Stepp said Nebraska’s backs have worked together this fall. For example, when asked for highlights from last weekend’s scrimmage, he brought up freshman Gabe Ervin.
“The scrimmage? Oh, shoot, Gabe went off. Gabe, he’s a great talent,†Stepp said. “He does everything pretty well. Learns fast. I was happy for him when he broke, I don’t know, a 60-, 50-yarder. It was kind of messy up front, he found a way, got through and that was a highlight for me. …
“He got through, broke 60 and that wins games, so I was happy for him.â€
A few paces away, freshman Sevion Morrison discussed how he looks to Stepp for tutelage.
“Markese is a vet, so he knows a lot of things that we don’t know, and he don’t have a problem sharing it with us,†Morrison said. “Him being a vet and him coming from a good school, he knows a lot about blocking schemes, passing schemes, how this might hit or that might work. Every time he tells me something, my ears are open.â€
The running backs coach didn’t name names, but it’s clear Stepp, Ervin and Morrison are three of the four players Held said are still in contention for playing time.
When he first got to Lincoln, the obvious conclusion was that he looked like a natural replacement for departed senior starter Dedrick Mills. That pathway featured a sizable detour, but Stepp looks to be back on course now as the Huskers’ opener approaches.
“Everybody can play, it’s just about consistency and showing up every day and putting your best foot forward day in and day out,†Stepp said.