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SOUTH BEND -- Ryan Roberts didn't "back" into a starting job at right defensive end for Notre Dame's football team Saturday against Purdue.
He earned it.
When Grant Irons was lost for the season with a dislocated shoulder last week against Nebraska, the 6-foot-2, 254-pound junior from Lawnside, N.J., got the call he has been waiting for since he stepped on campus.
It was a call, though, that he almost wasn't around to hear.
While splitting time at tailback and defensive end in high school, Roberts endured a good deal of pain in his back. He never quite knew what it was, but managed to fight through it.
He arrived at Notre Dame in 1998 and spent his freshman season on the scout squad at defensive end. Last year, he saw spot duty, playing a total of 37 minutes while making six tackles.
The pain never subsided.
"I've been playing with the pain for years and never knew what it was," Roberts said. "Before the Stanford game (last season), I couldn't walk. That was when it really hit. That was the worst pain I've ever felt."
A closer examination revealed Roberts had a congenital condition, made worse by the physical demands...