10/19 at 11:08 PM

Auburn’s had a hard time keeping its rush ends healthy this year.

Redshirt freshman Justin Delaine hurt his knee on special teams against Mississippi State and is out for the rest of the year.

Junior Dee Ford tallied 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack over the first three games, only to injure his back, undergo surgery and be out for the year.

Redshirt freshman LaDarius Owens stepped in for Ford, recording 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack over three games, then hurt his foot and — in the words of head coach Gene Chizik — will be out for “a good long time.”

Through it all, Corey Lemonier — the starter at the position — has been a consistent presence.

“He’s always on it. He’s off the ball fast. He pays attention,” freshman defensive lineman Devaunte Sigler said. “He’s just a go-hard guy. Nobody can stop him.”

Lemonier, a sophomore who backed up Antoine Carter and played mostly on passing downs last year, leads the SEC in sacks (6.0) and is tied for second in tackles for loss (10.0).

He has a four-game sack streak, a span in which he’s recorded 5.0 sacks and 8.0 tackles for loss and culminating in a two-sack, three-tackle-for-loss performance against Florida that earned him SEC co-Defensive Player of the Week honors.

But Lemonier had to get out of his own head before he could start playing out of his mind.

Chizik said he and Lemonier had an early season sitdown after his sophomore end got off to a slow start and delivered a very specific message.

“I was not pleased with his production at all,” Chizik said.

Lemonier knew that to be true. He’d been telling himself the same thing.

He was seeing many more snaps than he had his freshman year and having to be responsible for more than just rushing the passer.

“I was just thinking too much,” Lemonier said. “I was basically trying to predict every play. Now I’m just going out there trying to just play.”

That’s been working just fine for Lemonier over the past month.

Sophomore kicker Cody Parkey said Lemonier’s the type of player who can take the kind of constructive criticism Chizik doled out and put it to good use.

The two have been close friends since both signed with Auburn’s Class of 2010.

Parkey — from Jupiter, Fla. — messaged Lemonier — from Hialeah, Fla. — shortly after both signed and asked if he was a Miami Dolphins fan.

Lemonier said he was. Parkey responded, ‘We’re going to be good friends.’”

“He’s a really relaxed guy, funny. Just a good kid,” Parkey said. “He makes a big play and, obviously, get excited and stuff, but he’s not the kind of guy that’s going to get too low or too high. He’s got the perfect in-between to play football.”

Lemonier’s resurgence has mirrored that of the Tigers’ entire defensive line.

Auburn gave up 534.3 yards a game, 266.3 rush yards a game, 4.8 yards a carry and two sacks over the first three games.

The Tigers have lowered those per-game averages to 307.0 yards — 119.8 a game on the ground, with 3.9 yards a carry — over the past four outings and ratcheted up the pressure, tallying nine sacks.

Defensive tackle Jeffrey Whitaker said he knows who’s providing most of the heat off the edge.

“(Lemonier’s) a raw talent. The deal is, he’s getting to the fact that he kind of knows it,” Whitaker said. “Once you get to that point that you kind of know, you get scary. It’s like you’re going pass rush and I’ve got a double team, in the back of my mind I know I’ve got 55 over there by himself.

“I know he’s fixing to make something work.”