Philip Rivers doesn't get back to N.C. State as often as he would like to but he enjoyed this trip back.

Rivers was the commencement speaker at N.C. State's graduation ceremony on Saturday morning at PNC Arena. On Friday, the San Diego Chargers quarterback was able to show his oldest daughter, Halle, 9, where she spent the first two years of her life.

After an ecstatic crowd of graduates, cheered for star NFL quarterback Philip Rivers on Saturday at N.C. State's commencement ceremony at the PNC Arena, the Wolfpack  great was hoping to turn back the clock.

"Wow," said Rivers, the featured commencement speaker. "I gotta tell you, standing in front of the Wolfpack family again, it makes me want to run out of the tunnel at Carter-Finley Stadium just one more time."

Rivers led the Wolfpack to a school-record 11 wins in 2002 and was the ACC Player of the Year in 2003. A four-year starter, he finished his career in '03 as the second-leading passer in NCAA history (with 13,494 passing yards) and with his No. 17 jersey retired.

Recruit ratings in football can be wildly unpredictable.

Here's a review of five long shots who turned out to be among the best college players in the nation.

Ordinarily, I'd be the first to say we need another post-season college football award the way we need another television timeout during game coverage.

This is different, though.

This one could be ours  — "ours"  being the great collective gang of in-state fans who follow teams from the Triad to the Atlantic Ocean. We could even throw in Metro Charlotte, but that area has an award and it's an important one — the Bronko Nagurski honor presented annually by the Charlotte Touchdown Club to the nation's top defensive player.