Paul James III’s first season at Auburn lasted only three games. During practice the week leading up to the fourth, he tore the meniscus in his right knee, ending his debut season at his third school.

But James, whose football career has taken him through Illinois and Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Mississippi, had grown up always wanting to play in the SEC. He wasn’t going to let a knee injury ruin his chance.

So he spent a lot of time talking to Auburn’s star defensive end, Carl Lawson. He watched film with him, picked his brain. And when Lawson announced in January that he would leave school early to enter the NFL Draft, James set his sights on taking his place at buck.

It’s still spring, and that knee is still only about 85 percent recovered from surgery. But in Saturday’s A-Day game at Jordan-Hare Stadium, James stated his case for the starting job.

The 6-foot-4, 271-pound senior recorded four tackles, three tackles for loss and a sack for Auburn’s first team in a 37-13 win over the second team en route to being named the Mark Dorminey Defensive MVP.

“It’s an honor, because every day, you have your ups and downs,” James said. “For me to have the day that I had, it just shows what I’ve been working towards.”

Saturday’s effort was a response to a challenge from Rodney Garner. Auburn’s defensive line coach said he felt as if James was being “a little gimpy” on that knee during practice. He wanted to make sure James had confidence on that leg before the spring came to an end.

“There’s not a premium on one-legged defensive ends. There’s just not a high demand for that position with that skill set,” Garner said. “I think we need him to be able to turn it loose a little bit more. If it is a psychological block then we need to push past that.”

James seemed to do just that on Saturday. Coach Gus Malzahn pointed to one particular play as an example: On a second-and-8 play early in the second quarter, with Malik Willis running a read-option play, James read the true freshman quarterback, goaded him into keeping the ball then made the play on him, dropping him for a loss of 5 yards.

“You can see him improving,” Malzahn said. “It was really good to see him perform well.”

James still hasn’t reached the level he wants to. He still has work to do to get his knee right. He’s still competing with Jeff Holland and Tre’ Threat for reps at buck.

But James’ A-Day performance was clearly a step in the right direction.

“It’s been a battle every day. I have my good days and my bad, but for me to stay positive and put that behind me and move forward, it’s been pretty good,” James said. “I’m ready to play.”