On Sept. 23, WVU’s junior fullback who endeared himself to fans last season with a bruising, straight-ahead style that just hasn’t appeared with the same force or frequency this season, walked into the head trainer’s office and gave Dave Kerns some bad news.

“The information Matt came to us with was, ‘I’m not supposed to play football anymore,’ ” Kerns said.

Fortunately, a more thorough look at Lindamood and his self-described “messed up neck” proved otherwise. Oh, he has problems with the brachial plexus. If he hits someone, or gets hit, a certain way. His right arm goes numb. He has cervical stenosis and that narrowing of the spinal canal makes it easier for the spinal cord to get banged around and then cause side effects that are as painful as you would probably expect. Then there are  two protruding discs and a bone spur, degenerative conditions from a lifetime spent playing football the way Lindamood plays football.

Add it all up and he has aggravating issues with nerve innervation. But he’s playing. He’s safe. There’s a “heightened risk of paralysis,” he said, but there is a list of people who have played with his condition. There are also a bunch of preventative and oversight measures  in place to make sure it never happens.

In a perfect world, Lindamood will be out on the field throwing his face at people Friday knowing he can do no more damage.

“It’s what you’ve got to do,” Lindamood said. “At fullback, your job is to widen the hole and I feel like that’s what I do best. I hit people, but I also know the training staff does a real good job helping me with my neck.”