San Diego State has asked starting quarterback Maxwell Smith if he’d consider returning for next season on an NCAA injury waiver, and the graduate transfer is giving them the vibe that he would like to do so.

“He’s very positive about the idea,” Aztecs head coach Rocky Long said on Sunday.

After Smith’s discussion with the coaches, they also told him to put it out of his mind for now.

“It’s all speculation at this point,” Long said. “It’s way too early to get excited about it. The NCAA would have to approve it. It’s a long process of gathering paperwork.”


The Aztecs have been successful in recent years with waivers due to injury. Both linebacker Jake Fely and cornerback J.J. Whittaker are playing in their sixth years on campus this season because of large amounts of missed time in the past.

But it’s also easier when all of that information needs to come from one school. Smith started his career at Kentucky, where he played in eight games (starting three) as a true freshman and four games as a sophomore before an ankle injury limited him to play in just four games.

Smith returned to play nine games his junior year (starting four), but also missed three games with a rotator cuff injury that required surgery after the 2013 season. He has said he wasn’t healthy enough to compete for playing time in the 2014 season at Kentucky, after which he transferred to SDSU and earned the starting job in the fall.

Long said the Aztecs have to prove Smith missed the equivalent of two seasons because of injury. Their appeal likely will include all of ’14 and the partial season in ’12, when Smith started the first three, missed the fourth game with the ankle injury, threw only one pass in the fifth game and sat out the final seven games.


Including this year’s 10 games, Smith has played in 31 games in four-plus seasons. He never redshirted.

The possibility of Smith’s return, of course, is significant for the Aztecs, who may also return their star tailback, D.J. Pumphrey, who repeatedly has said he will return for his senior season rather than go into April’s NFL draft.

In the Aztecs’ current season, in which they are 6-0 in the Mountain West after Saturday’s 38-3 victory over Wyoming, Pumphrey has 12 of the team’s 19 rushing touchdowns, and Smith has thrown 12 touchdowns while being an excellent game manager. He’s thrown two interceptions in 180 attempts and hasn’t suffered a pick in a school-record eight straight games.

“Yeah, it would make a big difference,” Long said. “I would guess (Smith) is going to be better; he’s getting better now. And he wouldn’t have to start by learning the system.”


Smith, who wasn’t available for comment on Sunday, said after throwing a season-high three TD passes against Wyoming, “I just feel more comfortable every single game and after every single rep I get. … Now, I’m more comfortable and enjoying a little more success.”

Beyond Smith, the Aztecs don’t have an obvious answer at quarterback next season. Smith beat out redshirt freshman Christian Chapman in the offseason, Ryan Agnew will be a redshirt freshman next year and arriving as a true freshman will be Mt. Carmel dual-threat QB Lucas Johnson.

A return by Smith might give SDSU a transition year to work with the other three quarterbacks on a possible transition to a spread offense.