The scene could be set to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Have You Ever Seen The Rain,” it was 2023 and the Texas State Bobcats knew they were headed to their first-ever bowl game. 

True to form, the Bobcats marked the historic win by jumping into the river at Sewell Park, a tradition now shared across the athletic department to mark the on-field success of teams and a nod to the tradition of graduates from the school on the hill jumping into the river right after receiving their diplomas. 

Then a junior, Lincoln Pare had to watch the fun from the riverbank, he had only started to recover after tearing his ACL in the summer, an injury that would sideline him even before the eventual and historic bowl game-winning season had started. 

This year, when the Bobcats got their sixth win, a 58-3 rout of Southern Mississippi, Pare was one of the first in the river alongside University President Kelly Damphousse and head coach G.J. Kinne. 

“It was a surreal moment for me to be able to jump in the river with the team,” Pare said. “Last weekend was a fun weekend for us for sure.” 

The river jump capped off a recovery journey nearly a year in the making, a comeback that Pare says he almost couldn’t see happening. 

“There was several times,” Pare said. “The ACL recovery … I watched a million videos on all types of athletes, I was comparing myself to other running backs in the NFL and then I was looking at Adrian Peterson like ‘man, he came back in six months, I can’t even run right now.’” 

Relegated to the sidelines, in a knee brace for the majority of the season, Pare watched on as his teammate Ismail Mahdi strung together a breakout First-Team All-American season leading the nation with 2,169 all-purpose yards. 

The task to get on the field and move up the depth chart only grew in the offseason with the addition of UTEP backs Torrance Burgess Jr. and Deion Hankins. Even in the age of the transfer portal, according to Pare, leaving San Marcos was never really an option. 

“Going through the injury process, it was never in my head that I needed to leave,” Pare said. “Coach Kinne and this staff, one thing that they did a really good job of was was keeping me included. I stood with coach Kinne, watching practice, I was helping the RBs, I’m talking pass pro with the RBs, I’m at every single game telling them all types of things and coaching points and stuff like that. So, you know, the big thing for me, was just staying involved and keeping my mental right because I knew I had younger guys watching me.” 

Pare also helped in recruiting, and the coaching staff has credited him with hosting recruits and even the reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year, Jordan McCloud, when he first got to campus and did not have a place to stay immediately. Helping in that capacity is something Pare said he takes extreme personal pride in, having done it for so long at Texas State and before that, at Arkansas State. 

As the team returned to the field for spring ball, Pare says he got his own spring back. 

“I started feeling like myself. I was like ‘oh, oh, I got it a little,’ like it’s coming back," Pare said. “We went through that offseason and that summer training with coach (Brett) Huth, and I was still doing treatment every day and it just got better and better and better. Next thing you know, we’re in fall camp and I’m taking my brace off. I feel like I felt like I was in 2022, and we started rolling.” 

This year so far, in 48 attempts, Pare has totaled 315 yards on the ground along with five touchdowns - his longest a breakaway 68-yard house call in that rout of Southern Miss. 

Pare’s comeback was something Kinne and the coaching staff were waiting for and expected from the Tennessee native. 

“You know Lincoln has contributed all year,” Kinne said. “And like I’ve always said, he’s a coach on the field and he’s had some big games and that running back room is crowded. And it’s tough sometimes. His mindset has always been good though. Just a great kid and a great player, too, and I think you see that every time he touches the ball.” 

One of the most memorable runs from this year was a 45-yard breakaway touchdown against the UTSA Roadrunners on his first offensive snap of the game. 

“How it’s been this year is I’ve been kinda that depth guy and playing on special teams, I've just been grateful to be back out there playing football,” Pare said. “So, I mean it’s just a blessing that I’m even out here playing… Especially that game, because I’m big for coach Kinne, like I’m riding for coach Kinne. When we play them, obviously it’s coach Traylor, it’s the rivalry, the whole team is hype, we’re like, 'we got coach Kinne’s back, we gotta go win this for him,' so just to be able to be put in a position to contribute in that game is a blessing… That fourth-and-1 where they called me for my first offensive snap of that game and I ended up breaking it for a touchdown, I mean you can’t write it better for a dream come true to come back at Texas State.” 

The Bobcats (6-5) are set to play their last game this season Saturday at South Alabama (6-5) at 2:30 p.m.