10/21 at 12:34 AM

By the time Corey Grant is eligible to play in another game, it will have been almost three years since the running back took the field.

Grant signed with Alabama out of Opelika High in 2010, then redshirted that season sitting behind guys like Mark Ingram and Trent Richardson.

Feeling he didn’t fit in with Alabama’s pro-style, downhill-running offense, the speedy, shifty Grant sought his release over the summer and packed his bags for Auburn.

Where, because of transfer rules, he has to sit out this entire season before returning for 2012 with three years of eligibility left.

It’s been a whole lot of waiting for the former All-State back.

“I just try to look at it in a positive way,” Grant said. “Just keep taking it a day at a time and working hard.

“I know my day will come.”

At least this time around, Grant said, he knows more specifically the things he needs to focus on so he can give himself the best chance at getting on the field when that day does arrive.

Grant wasn’t sure he was on the redshirt track until midway through last season, so he still had some expectation of playing for at least part of the year.

The Tide even tried him out at defensive back over the summer, giving him the sense they might have more immediate plans for him in some capacity.

But in the end, Grant said, he was grateful for the redshirt year.

“I knew I needed it,” Grant said. “I needed to grow in a lot of areas. I knew I wasn’t ready at the time. I was just like, ‘OK, I’m going to take this, use it in a positive way to get bigger, faster and stronger, and just catch up on the speed of the SEC.’”

Grant approached his entry at Auburn – and another year of waiting – with the aim of building upon the base he’d accumulated in Tuscaloosa.

He’d seen what the college game looked like. Now he was going to put that knowledge to use.

“I know what to look for, the obstacles I’m going to have to face,” Grant said. “Last year it was just kind of like, ‘OK, I need to work hard.’ Now I actually know what I need to work hard at and what to get better at.”

Grant has made a name for himself on Auburn’s scout-team offense with that knowledge, not to mention the speed that made him a state sprint champion three times over – twice in the 100 meters, once in the 200 – in high school.

“Because of the speed he has,” redshirt freshman defensive end LaDarius Owens said, “he’s similar if not even better than the backs that we’ll see.”

Owens and Grant were in close contact as both traveled the same recruiting circles in 2009.

Once word came out in early June that Grant was transferring from Alabama, Owens started blowing up his phone.

“He called me and said, ‘You need to come on,’” Grant said.

That’s because Owens, even a year removed from his regular interactions with Grant, knew what the speedy back could bring to a team, even if he had to wait his turn to do so.

Owens, who also sat out last year redshirting, is certain to keep Grant mindful of the endgame.

“I’m just in his ear constantly, encouraging him, telling him, ‘We can use you a lot next year. Just use these redshirt workouts to your advantage and use it as fuel to keep you going,’” Owens said. “Everything he does, he does it full speed, whether it’s scout team or whatever. We appreciate him a lot. He probably doesn’t’ know it.”

Grant knows about the crowded Auburn backfield that awaits him on his return.

Mike Dyer, Onterio McCalebb and Tre Mason will all be back next year, joined by Mike Blakely – who is also sitting out this year after transferring from Florida – and, barring unforeseen circumstances, commits T.J. Yeldon from Daphne High and Jovon Robinson from Memphis’ Wooddale High.

He’s going to keep plugging away, keep carving his niche.

“Playing my role means a lot to me, just helping somebody else get better (on scout team),” Grant said. “Even when they get better, I’m getting better too, because that’s our first-string defense, our first-string special teams guys. It’s going both ways.

“I’m just going to keep working hard and see what happens.”