In an instant, outside linebacker Le’Marcus Gibson’s season was shattered — and, by night’s end, so too were UL’s hopes for winning the title outright.

It happened on what Gibson called "a freak play," when he spun around and leg-whipped Ragin’ Cajun teammate Tyrell Gaddies.

The result: a break in the fibula, the lower-leg calf bone running lateral to the tibia.

"I kind of knew something was wrong when I couldn’t get up and walk," Gibson said. "I thought maybe I’d just be out for a couple plays and I could get back up and go again, but after going into the lockerroom they told me it was broken.

"I kind of let a few tears go."

Maybe more.

"What was going through my mind was, ‘Not me. Not again,’" Gibson said. "I mean, I made it through most of the season. Eleven games. And (then) another injury — it’s kind of the story of my career."

Is it ever.

"He’s been around a long, long time, and he’s beat up," said Greg Stewart, UL’s defensive coordinator. "He’s put together with Duck Tape."

It’s no quacking matter.

"He’s a kid that’s been banged up a lot through his career, and he’s fighting through soreness and constant, little nagging injuries," Cajun head coach Mark Hudspeth said of Gibson, who even missed the few days of training camp this month because he couldn’t hold down any food. "But he’s a trooper, and he’s a big part of our team."

Gibson will be again, that is, thanks to a ruling last December by the NCAA that gives him a somewhat-rare sixth season of eligibility.

The Mississippi high school product started his college career in 2007 at Hawaii, but he played just one game at safety before sustaining a season-ending, surgery-prompting knee injury.

Gibson transferred to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College for 2008, but couldn’t play anywhere in 2009 due to hernia surgery.

He arrived at UL as a spring 2010 walk-on, soon earned a scholarship and wound up playing in six of the year’s first seven games — before sustaining yet another season-ending knee injury.

Then there was last season, and the sting that went with UL’s 30-21 loss at eventual Sun Belt-champ Arkansas State.

"It was something hard to go through, knowing that we were so close to getting our goal — a Sun Belt championship," he said. "Me going down that way with another injury — it was kind of devastating."

Still, Gibson put mind over matter.

He limped out of the lockerroom and returned to the sideline at ASU Stadium, where the turnover-plagued Cajuns rallied from 17-0 down to take a 21-20 lead.

But after Arkansas State regained the lead 27-21 and went on to win the Sun Belt title, Gibson wondered if he had just played in his final college football game.

"It probably would have put a cloud around everything," he said. "A dark cloud over my whole career."

There obviously was no way Gibson would play two weeks later in UL’s regular-season finale at Arizona.

Or even in a bowl game, despite the Cajuns — perhaps trying to throw off any possible opponent — suggesting he might.

"I could barely even walk," Gibson said, "so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to play.

"I was thinking football could be over, because there was no way I was gonna be able to do my Pro Day (in March) on a broken leg."

Shortly before UL’s first bowl appearance since 1970, and as his leg healed naturally, however, word arrived:

Based on the fact he had received a medical redshirt one season due to knee surgery and lost another an entire year due to the hernia surgery, the NCAA would grant Gibson a sixth season.

UL assistant compliance director Tom Burke delivered the news sooner than expected.

Cajun coaches quickly texted Gibson with their congratulations.

"It’s a chance," Gibson said, "to still be around my teammates, be around the fellas, and put in the work for another chance to play for a championship."

The one that got away haunts Gibson.

So, too, does not playing in the New Orleans Bowl.

But Gibson was there at the Superdome that December Saturday night, watching one of the wildest games of bowl season unfold as the Cajuns answered late to beat San Diego State on Brett Baer’s memorable 50-yard walkoff field goal.

"To see that from some of the guys I went through that 3-9 season with (in 2010) — it was still ‘our’ win," Gibson said.

"I didn’t participate in the game, but I was a big part of the season — so I still felt like I was part of (it), and to see those guys get the win, it was something that I’ll always remember.

"I didn’t play in the game, but it’s a ring I can always look at and say, "Hey, I put something in for that,’ he added. "The guys I went through it with — we all got he job done at the end."

Like many of 42,841 in the Superdome, Gibson stood most of the game.

The big difference was his left leg with the broken fibula had to be supported by a walking boot.

"From start to finish, it was a great game to just watch," Gibson said.

"To see how we came out and played knowing what was on the line, how many people we had behind us — that was big."

Big for the Cajuns now is that a defense returning only three other starters — inside linebacker Jake Molbert, and defensive backs Melvin White and Jemarlous Moten — will have Gibson back too.

He’ll lend experience to a linebacker corps that lost leading tackler Lance Kelley and No. 3 tackler Devin Lewis-Buchanan.

"He’s a guy that’s been around forever," Stewart said. "He’s seen a lot of stuff. He’s seen the low, seen the highs — and he can get it across to them other guys."

But after essentially playing out-of-position in 2011, Gibson will switch sides on the outside, from Bandit to Rover.

"Now I have more room to roam, so I’ll be able to make more tackles, hopefully," he said.

Gibson likes the change, partly because he’ll get to rely on old safety skills. Mostly, though, it’s because it should be easier on his 6-foot, 205-pound body.

"Over there to that weak side, you have to bang a little bit with the tackles. You’ve got to come off the edge a lot. And a smaller guy just has a harder time," Stewart said. "He (was) going against 360-pound tackles. So we moved him."

Gibson still must sometimes deal with lineman, but now he’ll spend much more time taking on receivers.

"It fits him way, way better," Stewart said. "So it will give him a chance to stay a little healthier.

"It will be good for him, and for us."

Not that Gibson is even thinking about injuries these days.

"The leg and Arkansas State — that’s far behind us now," he said. "Anything last season is far behind us."