Morgan State University redshirt junior running back Lamont Brown III made a strong statement on Saturday that he’s back.

The former Nansemond River High School standout missed nearly his entire redshirt sophomore year at Morgan State after suffering a complete tear of his anterior cruciate ligament, a tear in the meniscus and some bone bruising.

But Brown has returned and led the Bears with 75 rushing yards on 11 carries in Saturday’s 21-13 victory over Mid-Eastern Conference rival Howard University in the 18th annual Chicago Football Classic at Soldier Field.

“I felt good,” Brown said of his performance. Though he acknowledged it was not perfect, he added, “I still felt good. It feels really good to be back playing with my team again.”

For his efforts in the game, he was named the Chicago Football Classic MVP.

“It meant a lot; I really wasn’t expecting it,” Brown said of the honor, noting some of his teammates starred, as well. “Moses (Skillon) had a great game, (Andrew King) had a great game, but it felt good just knowing the hard work that I put in trying to come back wasn’t in vain and that somebody was paying attention to the game.”

Brown has one full season of college football experience, which he logged in 2013 as a redshirt freshman. During that campaign, he led the Bears with 145 carries for 708 yards, and he co-led the team with five rushing touchdowns.

In 2014, his one appearance before being sidelined by injury was an 18-carry, 124-yard performance in the season opener against host Eastern Michigan University.

In his absence, sophomore running back Herb Walker Jr. went on to set the school’s single-season rushing record, finishing with 1,408 yards.

Brown had never had a major injury like the one he suffered in 2014, but he diligently went through the rehabilitation process, which he said lasted six to seven months.

He said what motivated him to get through it was “just the fact that I knew how dominant that I was before I got hurt and the fact that I had the whole team behind me pushing me to come back stronger than I was. Just seeing — that with the first game that I had — how special last year could have been and seeing Herb come, do as special as he did, just motivated me to come back even stronger and made me work harder to try to regain what I had.”

Tracey Parker, Brown’s former high school coach at Nansemond River, knew from experience his former player would have a successful return.

“I’ve just known him to be a mentally tough young man, so it didn’t surprise me, and I’m glad he’s having that success, because I’m sure he put in a lot of hard work to get back to where he is,” Parker said.

Morgan State (1-2) hits the road to face Delaware State University on Oct. 3 at 2 p.m.