CS Northridge’s Hull Earns Glowing Report : College football: Linebacker bounces back from surgery to provide the Matadors with a bright spot.

It is no easy feat wiping the grin off Mario Hull’s face. The Cal State Northridge senior linebacker has a smile for everyone.

“He smiles because he has fun,” teammate Don Martin said. “People think he’s tough because of the neighborhood he comes from, but he always has a smile on his face.”

That sunny countenance disappeared in a game against Santa Clara last year. On one play, Hull’s season ended abruptly and his value to CSUN became dramatically clear.

With Hull out of action, the Matadors’ seven-game winning streak came to a halt and they lost their last three games.

On the eve of Northridge’s home opener tonight at 7 against Central Oklahoma, Hull vividly recalled the moment that almost ended his playing career.

“The guard and tackle pulled and I beat their block and tackled the running back,” he said. “As I did, (teammate) Terrell Taylor hit me in the hip. My right foot stuck in the ground. My knee lurched left and the rest of my body went right.”

At that angle, the posterior cruciate ligament gave way and Hull collapsed on the field. “It was excruciating,” Hull said. “I can’t even describe the pain. I knew it was bad as soon as I did it.”

Dr. Lester Cohn, the Northridge team orthopedic surgeon, concurred: “I thought he was finished.”

In the recovery room, after Cohn had performed major reconstructive surgery, Hull drifted in and out of consciousness with similar thoughts.

“All kinds of crazy thoughts entered my head,” he said. “The pain alone made me think that I would never play again.”

For what Hull calls the longest four days of his life, he was confined to a hospital bed.

When Hull woke up for the first time in his room, Cohn was by his side. Two hours later, when Hull again awoke, he was alone, not quite as drowsy, and painfully aware that the brace on his knee was tight.

To Cohn’s dismay, Hull took the brace off.

“When Dr. Cohn came in, he was mad,” Hull said with a mischievous laugh. “That was the funny part.”

After a week at home in Watts under his mother’s care, Hull returned to classes at Northridge, but it was a struggle.

“I was in a lot of pain,” he said. “I couldn’t even put my socks on. To get up and down stairs, I needed help. I had never walked on crutches in my life and it was real hard.”

Over semester break in December, Hull began physical-therapy sessions at Centinela Hospital and continued his therapy at Northridge under trainers Rhonda Lowry and Bill Miller.

The most painful periods were in the swimming pool.

“I had to do a scissor swim with all legs and no arms,” Hull said, chuckling. “I never thought you could sweat in a pool but I did, and Bill and Rhonda made sure.”

Using the Cybex machine, a resistance device, also was arduous. “That was horrendous,” Hull said. “The more you push, the harder it gets. I tried to slack off, but they weren’t going for it.”

Neither was CSUN defensive coordinator Mark Banker, who jumped on Hull’s case when Hull missed a couple of days of therapy.

Over the summer, while Hull lived at home and took classes at Santa Monica College, his mother Emma was his driving force.

“My mom would always tell me to work on my leg,” Hull said. “I’d be watching TV and she would throw me the keys to the car and tell me to go.”

Several teammates feared that Hull would miss the 1991 season.

“We thought he’d have to redshirt,” Martin said. “Especially because Rio (Mario) is lazy.

“But after a while, he was pushing us as much as we were pushing him. It changed him a lot.”

Northridge Coach Bob Burt prefers the term “laid-back” to “lazy” in describing the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Hull.

“Sometimes guys who enjoy sports don’t look like they are working,” Burt said.

Although Hull’s knee is not at full strength--he wears a brace and continues therapy--it is difficult to detect a weakness.

In three games for the Matadors (1-2), the left outside linebacker has intercepted two passes, broken up two others, caused a fumble, recorded two quarterback hurries and has been in on 18 tackles.

“It is unusual for a guy to come back from a posterior cruciate (tear) and play,” Cohn said. “Much less as well as Mario has. He had an intuitive way of doing everything right during his rehabilitation.”

What also came natural to Mario Hull is the megawatt smile he used to make it bearable.