When Southwestern sprints on to the field on Saturday it will mean a little more to Nick Mask.

For the senior defensive end, it will be the last time he will run on to a football field as a collegiate athlete.

But, it's more than that. Mask is the first football senior at Southwestern in 65 years.

"It's still just hard to grasp," Mask said. "It's very special."

The University fielded a football program for 43 years in the 20th century and was a charter member of the old Southwest Conference. However, due to financial concerns related to the lack of male student attendance at the institution in 1951, the program was suspended. Southwestern missed out on one of the 62 Air Force Training Units that were doled out to colleges and universities around Texas during the Korean War.

The last time the Pirates fielded a team with seniors was 1950. Harry Truman was president of the United States. A gallon of gas cost about 30 cents around the nation and the population of Georgetown, Texas, was a shade under 5,000.

The program featured nine seniors in 1950 – Bob Aderhold, Kenneth Adkins, Larry Crownover, George Frank, Wendell Graves, Buddy Lawhorn, Curtis Ledbetter, John Paul Schulze and Frank White.

Sixty-three years later, football returned to the Southwestern campus, and Mask was there. He was a handful of players who practiced an entire year before playing a real game. The Highlands Ranch, Colo., native knew it was worth it.

"To finally see it all come to fruition is amazing," Mask said. "To start a program from scratch, that's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

Three years after arriving on campus, Mask was selected a team captain by his teammates.

"Nick Mask is great example on the field, but I think his off-the-field example is superb," Nik Kelly, a sophomore cornerback, said.

"I've never seen anyone work as hard as he has," Cris Pringle, a sophomore running back, added. "He's a great leader. That's Nick Mask for you."

Mask has taken full advantage of the opportunities provided at Southwestern. In addition to majoring in kinesiology and working toward a minor in exercise and sports studies, Mask is completing research in nitric oxide supplementation.

His experience at Southwestern is one he will likely never forget. The program started a new tradition of adding stripes to the bottom of the decal on the back of the players' helmets. Mask is the first to have enough stripes signifying his senior status.

"Years from now when I come back, I'll be the first person and it can't be taken away from me," Mask said. "It's mind-boggling to think about, being the first person in 65 years to do something."

And like the last group of seniors, Mask will be remembered for being a part of something historical.