EVANSTON-Ray Niro III's sixth season at Northwestern was almost over before it began. The 5-foot-10 wide receiver, renowned for his special teams excellence, injured his foot in training camp and thought he'd be done for the year.

"It was terrible," he said. "It was an injury at fall camp, and they said I'd possibly be out for the year."

But Niro, who was awarded the No. 1 jersey in 2022, managed to come back and play in the last two games.

"I don't know, we just did a great job with the training staff and it felt good to get back out there," he said.

Niro credited his comeback to Northwestern's infamous Assistant Director of Football Performance, Alex Spanos.

"When you're in the season and not playing, you have to do these lifts and assault-bike workouts with Spanos," he said. "He does it in a way where it's fun.

"You're getting killed, and you're not playing at all and you see the guys who are, but he makes this so much fun for the injured guys. I can tell you, from all the injured guys in the past, Spanos is a great dude who is awesome with that stuff."

Those workouts, combined with the integral work of Northwestern's medical staff, are what brought Niro back more than a month ahead of schedule.

"I thought the timeline would be like, maybe the bowl game," Niro said. "But our training staff is really good.

"I was working a lot with Northwestern Medicine downtown with Dr. [Anish] Kadakia and my athletic trainer. We had a good plan for it. We're still being safe, and it ended up being sooner than expected."

It was right out of the frying pan of rehab workouts with Spanos and into the fire of game action. Niro debuted against Iowa two weeks ago on special teams, and then made an offensive impact last week against Wisconsin with two catches for 31 yards.

"It was like 'You're back in'," Niro said about his immediate addition back into the swing of things. "We had a rehab plan with underwater treadmill and a build-up. We met with a doctor on Wednesday of Iowa week, and he's like, 'You're good.'

"So I suited up for Iowa, full week of practice for Wisconsin, and then was out in Wisconsin making a few plays."

Getting Niro back has made an already deep wide receivers room even deeper. Niro can spell AJ Henning in the slot/speedster role, and make an impact in a role of his own.

"He's such an asset," head coach David Braun said. "Ray is a guy where you love to get the ball in his hands. I'm so happy for him coming off that injury to get back at it with his guys."

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MORE CATS COVERAGE: Braun named permanent head coach l Behind Enemy Lines: Purdue i Bryant reflects on his career ahead of Senior Day l Press conference notes: Braun talks interim tag l The 3-2-1 going into Week 12

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Niro's two receptions against the Badgers came from a fellow sixth-year senior, and a familiar face, quarterback Ben Bryant.

"I know him from high school because we were both QBs in Illinois," said Niro, who played quarterback at Barrington when Bryant was at Lyons Township. "We never played each other, but I always heard about him.

"We have a mutual friend. I remember when Ben was thinking about transferring here we kind of got in touch. He's a great leader, great dude in general, and just a great person to be around. And he's my age, too. We're both old heads around here."

Bryant has also dealt with injuries this season, missing a four-game stretch. So he was excited to have Niro back to add another weapon to his receiving arsenal.

"Ray is a great guy and has been working so hard," Bryant said. "It really sucked and everyone was super-upset when he got hurt at camp.

"He's been quietly working really hard on his own to get back and we're so thankful to have him back. He's such a big playmaker for us and I'm excited to keep throwing him the ball the next three games."

Northwestern only has two games left on its regular-season schedule, so mark that down not just as an endorsement of Niro, but that Bryant is counting on the Wildcats making a bowl game.

The chance to deliver on Bryant's guarantee is what brought Niro back to Northwestern this season. Unlike Bryant, Niro's not a transfer. Far from it. He's been a Wildcat since the 2018 season and has seen two Big Ten title games and three seasons with three or fewer wins.

Now, this Saturday against Purdue, he'll suit up at Ryan Field for the final time.

"It's emotional because I thought last year would be my Senior Day, I would stay for five," he said. "You end up not wanting to hang up the cleats and want to stay another year.

"It's going to be pretty emotional, especially with everything that I overcame this year with injuries. I was asking, 'Do I still want to play? Do I want to come back from this foot injury or do I just want to hang them up now?'"

The long shot to return and rewrite the ending of his story is what led Niro to throw himself into rehab and make it back, against all odds, to don the purple and white for one more season.

"The reason I came back is because I didn't want to go out like that," he said. "I didn't want to go out 1-11. I'm just proud that I'm going out on a high note."