CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington running back Antoine Custer Jr. faced some adversity last season due to injury.
He went from starter and All-Big Sky second team in 2017 to backup in 2018. Now he will lead the running back group again, and he's excited to be back in that role.
"It's a big role to me," he said. "Just being a senior, coming on my last year, I want to leave it out with a bang and leave a legacy for the young guys to follow."
Last season, Custer had to miss the first three games of the season due to injury. When he came back, he was the backup to then senior Sam McPherson.
"It was frustrating missing a few games," he said. "That's always going to be frustrating being a competitor."
But when the back was on the field, he was putting up numbers. He had over 700 total yards, scored eight touchdowns and was a All-Big Sky honorable mention.
He just wants to stay healthy so he can contribute.
"I want to do whatever I can to help the team win really," Custer said. "1,000 yards would be great, but whatever I can do to help the offense move the ball is really my goal to get back to where we were last year."
With a talented offensive line returning, he's primed for a big season.
"We could be very scary with the great offensive line we got coming back," Custer said. "We have an All-American center coming back that's great. All across the boards we got the best o-line to me. If we keep running the ball as effectively as we did last year, I think we're going to have a great year."