Primer: 2017 football

More on receivers: Anthrop continues to surprise ($) | Catlett shined early ($) | Zico wanting to make impression | Vets hanging on to spots

Anthony Mahoungou has spent the last two seasons preparing as if he was a starter.

He hasn’t been, backing up DeAngelo Yancey, Domonique Young and Bilal Marshall as an outside receiver. But that mindset is helping Mahoungou now, as the senior receiver is in position to achieve a status he’s long sought.

“I knew I had to be patient,” Mahoungou said following Purdue’s practice Wednesday. “I was always working and thinking, in my mind, that every game I was going to be the starter. That was my mindset last year. It’s the same mindset today. So far, I’m fighting to stay in that first group.”