It could have been one of those days Eric Moncur would remember forever.

He was supposed to be playing his final regular-season game Saturday for the Miami Hurricanes. His mother was supposed to be there, wearing her kid's No. 94 jersey, screaming nonstop for three hours to the delight of the Miami faithful sitting nearby. And afterward, a proud and close-knit family was supposed to go out to celebrate, a mother and son toasting each other on the birthday they shared.

None of it will happen.

Saturday promises to be the most trying day of a trying season for Moncur, a defensive end who received a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA and could barely use it, enduring yet another injury-filled campaign that kept him off the field.

And if Edwina Moncur hadn't died of cancer 15 months ago, it would have been her 44th birthday, too.

His birthday won't be a happy one.

"Going to be a rough day," Moncur said.

He's had more than his share of those.

Moncur couldn't play football right away because getting the necessary SAT score proved to be difficult at first. He buried Bryan Pata, his best friend and teammate, after a still-unsolved slaying in 2006. Moncur lost his mother to cancer in August 2008. He has played in only nine of the 24 games since, an array of injuries basically ending his college career much earlier than he wanted.

"It's sad," Miami coach Randy Shannon said. "Here's a guy who came back for another senior year, had troubling times, lost his mom, graduated from school and then came up with another injury. It's sad."

Last season, a torn abdominal muscle kept him out of much of the year. The NCAA granted him the sixth year, but Moncur missed time in training camp with another injury, and hurt his right foot and calf more than a month ago. He originally said that he hoped to be back within a week. He's barely played since, not at all in any of Miami's last four games.

Shannon said when the 19th-ranked Hurricanes (8-3) visit South Florida (7-3) on Saturday, Moncur won't be able to play then, either.

"It is hard to watch, especially when you have a good friendship with the guy," Miami quarterback Jacory Harris said. "You sit up there, you look at him, he gets in, and he plays wonderful. The next week, unfortunately, he gets hurt or something like that."

It's a bizarre trend for a 6-foot-2, 250-pound defensive end who has drawn rave reviews for toughness from teammates and coaches in past years.