This is Marcus McShepard’s fourth go-round at Camp Kenosha. But in some ways, it’s also his first.

While the redshirt junior spent his first three fall camps at cornerback, he now finds himself at wide receiver after switching positions in the spring. So in terms of his knowledge and experience at the position, which he hasn’t played since high school, he is more like a freshman and a-half -- somewhere between a true freshman trying to keep his head from spinning off his shoulders and a redshirt freshman who already has a full year under his belt.

McShepard and head coach Pat Fitzgerald both say that McShepard is still learning the nuances of catching rather than defending passes. Yet because of his athleticism, his speed and the current state of the wide receiver corps, the 5-foot-11, 200-pounder from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, could find himself in a starting role this fall. At the very least, he’ll be a contributor.

“He’s gonna make a difference, there’s no question, athletically,” said Fitzgerald at NU Media Day. “(He has) experience playing at the collegiate level. But he’s just learning. Every day is something new. But he’s doing a really, really good job picking the system up. You can see his athleticism out there. He’s got great want-to and he really wants to make a difference, and that’s really impressive.”

McShepard has reportedly been timed in the 4.3s in the 40-yard dash, so he certainly has the speed to potentially stretch a defense, something that has been missing, for the most part, in the Wildcats’ passing game. He thinks that his athleticism and his knowledge of defenses are what give him a leg up in making the transition.

“The easiest thing is just the athletic part,” he said. “Movements and different routes, understanding what the defense wants to do. That’s kind of my specialty, knowing what the defense is going to do.”

He added, “I’m a pretty fast guy. Once defenders realize that, they’ll respect that and back off a little bit…Also, what I do after I catch the ball, make plays after I make the catch. That’s something I want to bring to the room next year.”

You can guess what the most difficult thing about the position switch has been.

“The hardest thing is just learning the playbook,” he said. “We have an extensive playbook and different options and different things we have to read, so that was probably the biggest transition for me.”

Northwestern’s passing game is predicated on both the quarterback and receiver making the same read. McShepard has to identify how the defensive back is playing him -- and that should be his strength -- and then alter his route based on whether that DB is playing man-to-man, zone or press coverage, for example. Quarterback Clayton Thorson has to make the same diagnosis and then deliver the ball where it’s supposed to be.

McShepard, like all of Northwestern’s receivers, is also learning all four wide receiver positions, instead of just one. That means he has to learn every route combination for every receiver position.

It can be a lot to handle, but McShepard says he feels “pretty confident. I learned the majority of the playbook in the spring, so it’s just recap and making sure that I have that solidified right now.”

At least McShepard can rely on his college playing experience, even if it was on the other side of the football. He played in seven games in 2014 and then all 13 games last year, in both special teams and reserve cornerback roles. He finished with 12 tackles and one kick return.

But McShepard saw this winter that Matthew Harris and Keith Watkins II were firmly entrenched as the starters at cornerback going into the 2016 season and that talented younger players like Montre Hartage and Alonzo Mayo were also in the mix for the two-deep. (The irony here, of course, is that Watkins sustained a season-ending knee injury during practice last week and is out for the year, so Hartage and Mayo are among the players battling for his starting job.)

McShepard also knew, on the other hand, that the wide receiver position was as open as a 7-11 after the graduation of veterans and continued lackluster play from a unit that contributed to a passing offense that ranked dead-last in the Big Ten and 119th in the nation a year ago with 138.5 yards per game.

That’s why, when defensive backs coach Jerry Brown approached him in the offseason about making the switch to wideout, McShepard pounced on it like a loose ball. McShepard, former running back Solomon Vault and former safety Steven Reese all made the move to wide receiver to add what Fitzgerald likes to call “competitive depth” at the position.

“(There were) rumors going around the locker room. Coach Brown brought in and told me that the receivers needed help with certain areas,” said McShepard. “So he just kind of presented it to me: you can be the nickel, third corner for right now, or you can compete for the starting job at receiver. So, obviously, I would take whatever gave me the best chance to get on the field. So it wasn’t really a shock, shock, but I was pretty excited to get a better opportunity.”

And that opportunity could mean trotting out with the first unit come September.

“I definitely want to fight for the starting job,” said McShepard. “I just want to contribute to the room the best I possibly can, whether that be a leadership role, to be something physical, statistically, I just want to impact the room.”