When Lovie Smith turned to M.J. Rivers three weeks ago, the Illinois football coach did so because his starting quarterback suffered a hamstring injury.
Even though Rivers has performed well in Bush's absence, Smith made it clear that Bush wasn't going to lose his grip on the starting job due to injury.
"It's just a matter of time before he'll be back out there,'' Smith told reporters this week as his Fighting Illini prepared to face Rutgers for a 12 noon showdown Saturday at HighPoint.com Stadium in Piscataway.
Smith has yet to announce his starting quarterback, but his counterpart insists his defensive game-plan preparation hasn't been impacted by the uncertainty.