In his five years in Lawrence, the Shawnee native and three-year starter on the Jayhawks’ football team has served his community in just about every way imaginable. Built houses for Habitat For Humanity. Helped organize Special Olympics bowling outings. Not long ago, he stopped by a classroom of elementary students and read them Dr. Seuss.

“It’s a way to get away from the daily grind and stresses of football or whatever it may be,” said Rivera, one of the school’s most community-involved athletes. “But I just like doing that. I learn a lot from them, and we have a good time doing it.”

If Rivera has taken extra solace in his community service ventures this fall, it’s because the grind has been especially intense this season. Although Kansas sits at a respectable 4-1 and currently holds a No. 16 national ranking, it’s no secret that the Jayhawks have struggled defensively. In consecutive games against South Florida and Sam Houston State, the Jayhawks gave up a combined 678 yards through the air, while the linebackers, a corps that entered the season viewed as the defense’s strong suit, had largely underachieved.

As a result, Rivera found himself on the bench for the team’s Sept. 20 game against Sam Houston State. He played sparingly in the game, failing to record a tackle for the first time all season. It was the first time since his freshman season that Rivera hadn’t been in Kansas’ starting lineup, and afterward, Kansas coach Mark Mangino implied the benching stemmed from a lack of effort and/or production.

Nick Krug

“Everybody’s buttons are different,” Mangino said. “Some guys only understand losing playing time. There are some players, they do something wrong, you can run them around the field for 10 hours, they’ll go back and do the same thing again, because running them isn’t the answer. Take them off the playing field, that’s painful for them. Take privileges away, that’s painful.”

Mangino declined to elaborate on the specifics of Rivera’s benching during his meeting with the media Tuesday, but Rivera said he’s been battling minor injuries throughout the course of the season – though he added that he didn’t want to use that as an excuse.

“There’s a lot of guys that play hurt in college football,” Rivera said. “… And I respect them for it, and I want to be one of those people, too. So I’m going to go out and do everything I can to be on the field week in and week out.”

On Saturday, he took a big step toward accomplishing that task. He finished with a season-high seven tackles and was a large part of a blitz package that produced two sacks and eight tackles for loss, helping spark a second-half defensive stand that gave quarterback Todd Reesing and the rest of the Jayhawks’ offense time to mount the third-largest comeback in school history.

“I think the big thing was that he played with some urgency and just picked his tempo up, (including) his desire to go make a special play,” said defensive coordinator Clint Bowen.

And with a must-win game against Colorado quickly approaching – and a stable of national title contenders waiting down the line – Rivera’s likely return to the starting lineup comes at a welcome time.

“We’ve got to keep getting better as a whole defense, and it all starts with the linebackers,” Rivera said. “I believe we’re the core of the defense, we’re the seniors, and we set the tone.”