Just imagine what went through Todd Haselhorst's head this summer when an unmistakable pain shot through his foot.

"I was a little (ticked) off at first," said Haselhorst, a Kansas University defensive tackle. "I walked off the field and knew something wasn't right."

Once again, his career was derailed without ever really gaining any steam. Haselhorst suffered a broken left foot that was to keep him out for roughly a month.

In the end, Haselhorst missed no games. But sitting out much of August was just as damaging. It allowed sophomore Caleb Blakesley to move ahead of him on the depth chart, and the injury became just one more irritating bump in the road that's defined Haselhorst's rocky college career to this point.

Haselhorst was doing nothing out of the ordinary during that summer workout in July, when he "just landed wrong" on his foot while running. He felt that unmistakable pain, and went over to visit with the athletic trainers he probably already knew too well.

You see, Haselhorst missed all of 2005 after having separate surgeries to fix the posterior labrum in each shoulder. The lengthy rehabilitation knocked him out of the following spring season and pretty much crippled him for the 2006 campaign, as well. He played about 12 plays in six games last year.

Now a broken foot? Are you kidding?

"I'm about 95 percent now," Haselhorst said Tuesday. "Now it's just getting back, getting my technique back, getting some more playing experience and getting back to where I was."

But where was that? Haselhorst has been untapped potential ever since playing as a true freshman in 2004. Besides a quick tryout at center in the spring of '05, Haselhorst always has been a talked-about component of the KU defensive line. But because of his health, he's never been much more.

All the injuries have taken a toll on the Olathe native's play. That makes the healthy times, like now, even more critical.

"He has to work on his fundamentals," KU coach Mark Mangino said. "He plays a little high at times, and a lot of it is due to not having a lot of repetitions for a long period of time.

"We need for Todd to play well for us, and we need for him to play consistently well. He can make a difference up front if he continues to develop the way he is."

Back-to-back plays against Southeastern Louisiana gave Haselhorst a flash in the KU defensive fire during the 62-0 rout. One play after registering a quarterback hurry against the Lions, Haselhorst snuffed out a receiver end-around and stopped Byron Ross in the backfield for an eight-yard loss. It was his only tackle of the night.

"He can be as good as he wants to be," linebacker Joe Mortensen said. "That kid : when he's on, he's on. Todd's a big guy, and he's athletic. When he's healthy, he's definitely a force to reckon with. I'm glad he's back."

Mortensen's not the only one. Defensive coordinator Bill Young loves the increased depth he has now at tackle, particularly the three-man rotation of Haselhorst, Blakesley and All-Big 12 candidate James McClinton.

"That keeps us fresh," Young said.

Haselhorst sees playing time as a byproduct of his mid-week work, and something that's ultimately out of his hands. But he does know this: Knocking that Southeastern wide receiver to the turf was something he had been waiting quite a while to do.

"It felt really good," Haselhorst said. "It felt like all the hard work I put in to try and make a comeback has paid off."

"Now," he added, almost out of necessity, "I've got to stay healthy."