Temple's Smith learns from personal loss

Nate D. Smith always exchanged text messages with his mother, so when he received one reminding him to wish his brother a happy birthday he thought little of it.

"That's my mom," said Smith, Temple's starting middle linebacker and the brother of former Eagles tight end L.J. Smith. "I had just spent Mother's Day with her."

What Smith did not know at that time last May was that the text would be the last he would ever get from his mother. Later that week, at the age of 56, Kathy Ann Smith, who had been ill, died suddenly.

"I was hurt," Smith said. "I was blindsided, and my whole world was turned upside down. She was my heart."

His mother's death capped an incredibly trying time for the 6-foot, 230-pound Smith, who is tied with linebacker Tyler Matakevich with a team-leading 17 tackles. In the spring of 2013, he landed in coach Matt Rhule's doghouse for being late to a meeting. He was benched in the third game of the season and then played three games at defensive end before returning to linebacker.

Rhule, who traveled along with 75 percent of the team to Kathy Ann Smith's funeral in Central Jersey, has seen a change in Smith, who led the Owls with 13 tackles in a Sept. 6 loss to Navy that dropped Temple to 1-1. The Owls host 0-3 Delaware State on Saturday.

"He came to terms with himself that he was going to do it our way," Rhule said. "He went through a lot with his mother passing. That was a tough moment for him. In the last year, he has grown up and made himself into a man. He works hard, and he's a pleasure to be around."

Matakevich and Smith are close friends who refer to themselves as "the Bash Brothers." Matakevich, who attended the funeral, understood the importance of getting Smith back to Temple and focusing on football.

"Nate is one of my best friends here, and I knew I had to get him back to camp as soon as possible. I didn't want him to stay home for too long," Matakevich said. "I could never imagine how he feels, but he's a tough kid and he'll get through it. He's a warrior, and he'll fight through anything."

"I see life differently," Smith said. "Things can be taken away from you at any moment. I have to live every day like it's my last, play every down like it's my last. When it happened, I knew I had to be an adult for my family."

Williams out. An MRI revealed that sophomore running back Zaire Williams has a bulging disk in his back and is out indefinitely.