When the roll is called on Aug. 3, University of Hawai'i football player Jason Ferguson expects to yell, "Here!"

"My goal is to be ready to go by training camp," said Ferguson, a slotback from Los Angeles who missed all but four plays last season because of injuries to his right knee and femur. "You've got to be optimistic. We'll see how it goes. I'm going to bust my butt this summer."

Ferguson, who is working out daily at UH's grass practice field, earned a starting job at right slotback for the 2005 season opener against Southern California. But as USC prepared to kick off, UH freshman returner Mikhail Kafentzis was on the sideline looking for his medication. Ferguson, without waiting for permission, ran onto the field as Kafentzis' replacement, and fielded the kickoff. He suffered a double injury when he landed on his right knee, and three plays later, his season ended when he hobbled off the field.

Medical tests showed a torn anterior cruciate ligament — the same injury that forced him to miss his senior season at Fairfax High School — and a fractured femur.

To mend the ACL, Ferguson underwent an allograft using tissue from a cadaver.

"As long it works," Ferguson said. "I'm like, 'Hold up this time, please. I don't care if (the tissue is) dead, alive, from an animal, anything. Don't let it tear again.' "

The injured femur was more problematic, requiring bed rest for two months.

Deciding to have the surgery and rehabilitation in Los Angeles, Ferguson withdrew from his fall classes. He re-enrolled at UH in January.

Ferguson said he expects to receive a retroactive medical hardship for the 2005 season. The NCAA allows a football player five years to play four seasons. Ferguson has not used a redshirt year.

"I talked to the athletic director a couple of times," Ferguson said. "I'm pretty sure I can use my last year as a medical redshirt."

If so, he will have three years to play three seasons.

Ferguson, a 2003 Fairfax High graduate, delayed enrolling at UH initially until January 2004. That extra semester of classes, he said, offset the credits he did not earn during the 2005 fall semester. He said he should be academically eligible to play this fall.

"I didn't really fall behind, but I'm not where I should be," he said. "That's why I'm going to summer school."

In his absence, Davone Bess and Ryan Grice-Mullins each had more than 1,000 receiving yards as freshmen in 2005. Bess and Grice-Mullins enter training camp as the starting slotbacks. Michael Washington, who moved from left wideout, and Aaron Bain are listed as the top understudies.

"I'm not afraid of competition," Ferguson said. "That's what drove me to have the type of camp I had last summer. Coach put Davone behind me (last summer). As soon as you think things are handed to you, that's when you get complacent and content."

For now, Ferguson is working on regaining his quickness and the confidence to make cuts. He is participating in unsupervised workouts, although the UH medical staff has not cleared him to participate in school-sponsored events.

"I'm trying to get there mentally before any doctor can tell me anything," Ferguson said. "That's the hardest part, getting that confidence back, that for-sure feeling I can cut back. With my game, I need to stop on a dime. I'm working on that."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.