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Hochman: New MU assistant coach Luper served in Army, played college football at 27

Curtis Luper (right), then Texas Christian's co-offensive coordinator, watches from the sidelines withcoach Gary Patterson in a game against Texas on Sept. 22, 2018, in Austin, Texas. (Eric Gay, Associated Press)

He sure tried to be all he can be.

But he was a running back on the same college team as Thurman Thomas.

“When you play behind Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders, you don’t play much, so you feel like a failure,” Curtis Luper said. “So I felt I needed to go somewhere and succeed and make my way. And it wasn’t in football.