The BYU Cougars haven't had LJ Martin for their past four games.
That includes the first loss of the season for BYU, and not having their star running back available certainly hasn't helped their offense find a groove.
The biggest game of BYU's season is on deck now, as they'll take on Utah in the so-called Holy War on Saturday.
Utah is 8-0, including 5-0 in the Big 12.
BYU is 7-1, including 4-1 in the Big 12.
It's a season-defining game — maybe even a program-defining game — for these rivals. It's as big as the Holy War has been in a long time, maybe ever.
And Martin's status could go a long way toward determining how it works out.
Martin's four-game absence may be coming to an end.
"There's good news," The Athletic's Stewart Mandel wrote this weekend about BYU. "Star running back LJ Martin, who's been out since Oct. 3, may return against Utah. Not a moment too soon."
If Martin is able to return, it could be a game changer.
"The Utes, now on a national-best 14-game winning streak, enter next week's enormous edition of the Holy War with more momentum than No. 8 BYU (7-1, 4-1)," Mandel writes. "The Cougars followed their upset of then-No. 2 Notre Dame by losing at UCF, then spent most of Saturday with the offense stuck in the mud while grinding out a 27-20 win over Arizona State (4-4, 2-3)."
Martin's full status likely won't be known until later in the week, but the positive buzz had already begun heading into this past weekend that Martin might be close.
BYU certainly would've circled the Utah game as a great time to get Martin back, if possible.
Martin has spent his entire college career at BYU, and he showed right from the outset he could be a good player.
He ran for 518 yards and four touchdowns as a freshman.
As a sophomore, Martin ran for 718 yards and seven TDs.
Last season, Martin took over the backfield entirely and had 236 carries for 1,305 yards (5.5 ypc) and 12 touchdowns along with 36 catches for 255 yards.
So far this season, Martin had run 44 times for 344 yards (7.8 ypc) and three scores while adding five grabs for 41 yards.
BYU's offense adds an entire dimension when Martin is in the backfield. It helps limit the need for Bear Bachmeier to feel like he has to do everything.
Against an incredibly well-rounded Utah team, BYU can't be too predictable. A Martin return would help the Cougars in that regard.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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