South Carolina quarterback Tommy Beecher told him he's going to juke McKeen if he gets close to making a sack. Others joke that they will be targeting him for cut blocks so he'd better watch his knees.

McKeen, who played sparingly as a Gamecocks freshman in 2005, is preparing to meet his former teammates Thursday night in the season-opener in Columbia, S.C. He keeps in touch with Beecher, kicker Ryan Succop and tailback Taylor Rank.

"They're all former roommates," he said. "We're still pretty close."

McKeen ran into trouble off the field at South Carolina. Coach Steve Spurrier suspended him for three games after his arrest following an early morning bar fight in March 2006.

He was charged with disorderly conduct, trespass after notice and failure to stop on a police command. Shortly afterward, he left the team.

McKeen declined to talk about that this week, saying he is trying to put it behind him. After leaving the Gamecocks, he enrolled at Nassau (N.Y.) Community College, where he had a solid season in 2007 with 17 tackles for loss.

That caught the attention of an N.C. State staff short on veteran defensive line talent. While at Boston College, N.C. State's Tom O'Brien had recruited McKeen out of high school.

After N.C. State recruiting coordinator Jerry Petercuskie investigated McKeen's difficulties, O'Brien had no reservations about offering McKeen a scholarship.

"When he came on his visit, we had a nice, long discussion about him," O'Brien said. "And I think he made some mistakes. He owned up to his mistakes, and he wanted another opportunity."

Now a junior with two years of eligibility remaining, McKeen has taken advantage of that opportunity. After a strong preseason, he enters the opener as a backup on the depth chart behind Markus Kuhn.

O'Brien, who coached a game at Boston College last season, has counseled McKeen on how to handle playing against his former school, but he wouldn't reveal details of that conversation.

McKeen knows there's a chance that even some of his friends from his time in Columbia in the stands will be cheering against him.

"It's definitely going to be interesting," he said. "We worked hard together, battled together out on the practice field. But at the same time, I'm going to approach it like it's any other game."

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