Every sudden movement — every twist, every jarring hit — hurts.

A lot, more often than not.

To mask it, and hopefully make it through the year, Tig Barksdale receives a pain-killing injection before every game he plays.

The UL safety has been dealing with a sports hernia since before the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 2012 season began, and while the injury has limited him at times it hasn’t totally stopped him from doing what means most.

"I just ask God to give me the opportunity, the strength, to go out here so I can help my team," said Barksdale, a former Ole Miss signee in his first season with the Cajuns after transferring from NCAA FCS Jacksonville (Ala.) State.

"As long as I’m getting (some) rest and getting my shot, I know I’ll be able to help the team out in the way they need me.

"It’s just something I have to do, because if I don’t get that shot I won’t be able to play," added Barksdale, a former Mississippi Mr. Football who starred at running back for a South Panola High team that went undefeated while winning four straight Class 5A Mississippi state titles during his four seasons there. "I already have a hard time running in practice without (it)."

Barksdale’s plan for now is to address the injury — frequently caused by a tendon or muscle tear, and punctuated by chronic pain in the lower abdomen and groin area — with postseason surgery.

For now, though, he’s gutting things out for a 4-1 Cajun team preparing to play Tuesday night at North Texas.

"He’s trying," Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said this week. "He’s really trying.

"It’s very uncomfortable, what he has. "» Just to sacrifice yourself to take a shot every week, and to come to practice and just limp around every week, says (something) about your determination to want to play."

The Cajuns only briefly considered shutting down Barksdale before the season began.

But with current starter T.J. Worthy suspended for UL’s season-opener against Lamar for disciplinary reasons, and Rodney Gillis, a fifth-year senior with no previous starts, opening at the other safety spot, that was not ideal for them.

Nor was it what Barksdale had in mind.

He played for Jacksonville State in 2010, but was suspended for disciplinary reasons prior to the start of the 2011 season, leaving him hungry to return to the field.

The last thing he wanted was to sit out a second straight season.

"Early on, we just didn’t have an option. And he wanted to play too," Hudspeth said. "He was at the point to where he wanted to play no matter what."

So Barksdale took his shot before the Lamar game, and played well in both that one and — after another injection — again the next week in a Sun Belt Conference win at Troy.

But the shot didn’t work so well in a Sept. 15 loss at Oklahoma State, prompting the Cajuns to decide to sit Barksdale and instead move Worthy into a starting role for a Sept. 29 Sun Belt win over Florida International.

The hard-hitting Barksdale responded, thanks to both the rest and yet another shot, with a four-tackle effort as part of a three-man rotation with Worthy and Gillis in last Saturday’s 41-13 non-conference win over Tulane.

"The week off may have helped him a little bit," Hudspeth said. "I thought he moved around probably the best (Saturday) he’s moved around this year.

"But it hasn’t been easy for him. So, hopefully he can continue to improve."

Barksdale sure hopes so.

"(Sitting out the FIU game) definitely was good, because I needed my body to rest so I could get (it) back ready — because my team really needs me," he said. "I think I did a good job of coming back this last Saturday and helping."

Barksdale’s Cajun teammates not only need him, but also respect him for what he’s doing.

"I think they see he’s hurting, and it’s uncomfortable for him to just run around practice, and I think they appreciate that," Hudspeth said. "He’s not trying to get out of anything. He does everything we ask him to do. But you can tell it bothers him."

"I just respect him for going out there and trying," added Worthy, a fellow former Ole Miss signee. "I mean, he’s got a lot of heart — because I know it’s hurting him, and he’s still fighting it every day to help our team out."

When he initially gets his pregame shot, Barksdale said he feels "no pain."

That often changes, though, by game’s end.

And the day after he plays?

"I always feel it the next day," the young father of three daughters said.

Yet Barksdale trudges on, playing a largely unfamiliar position — he was at safety during his one season at Hargrave (Va.) Military Academy, but was a running back at Jacksonville State — because for now it is where he’s needed most.

Beyond 2012, it’s possible Barksdale — who deep down would love to return to his old spot in the offensive backfield — will assume the outside linebacker spot that will be left vacant after this season by sixth-year UL senior Le’Marcus Gibson.

"I think he can definitely fit there nice," Hudspeth said, "but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there."

First, there are up to eight more shots to be taken at safety.

And if he winds up taking all eight — UL has seven regular-season games remaining, plus the possibility of a second straight bowl game — Barksdale will do so quite willingly.

"It’s all worth it," he said.