Matt Maddox had to get through four losing seasons, two staph infections and an ice storm, but on Saturday the former Illinois offensive lineman will finally play in his last college football game.

Maddox started all but one game of his career at Illinois: the 2006 season-ending trip to Northwestern, which he missed after an infection crept into his right knee. But on Saturday he will play in the East-West Shrine Game, an all-star event that features the top seniors in NCAA football.

“That’s why this game means so much,” Maddox said in a phone interview from Houston, Texas. “I missed my last game, but I get one more chance. Even if I don’t make it, I’ll still have one more game.”

Maddox is one of 100 players participating in Saturday’s game (6 p.m. on ESPN2), in which athletes are divided into two teams based on their school’s location. He’s been in Texas preparing for the game since last Saturday, but just days ago he was unsure whether he would be able to play.

As an Illini, Maddox started 45 straight games, playing guard as a freshman and sophomore, moving to center as a junior, and moving back to guard for his senior season. He was a Freshman All-American as a redshirt freshman and was chosen as Illinois’ Outstanding Offensive Lineman as a junior and a senior.

While Illinois posted just eight wins during his career, Maddox’s leadership on the offensive line helped the team to its best rushing numbers in nearly 30 years and a Big Ten rushing title in 2006.

“I think his experience in two different styles of offense, that fact that he’s played center and guard, moved around the offensive line, only makes him that much more marketable,” Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley said. “He’s an athletic guy who’s been very consistent, a heady guy, a smart football player.”

But all of that came to a sudden, sad end when he woke up the day before his last game with terrible swelling in his right knee.

He went to Memorial Stadium for treatment and boarded the bus to Evanston as planned, assuming he had slept on his leg funny. When the team arrived at Northwestern, however, he says it took 10 minutes just to cross the few yards from the bus to the grass.

The next morning he was driven to Champaign for surgery while his teammates took on the Wildcats.

“The game wasn’t on TV, so I had to watch it on Gametracker, which wasn’t fun at all,” Maddox said. “It was tough to know I could be out there helping my team, helping them try to get a win, and instead I’m in the hospital with something the size of a mini basketball sticking out of my leg.”

Maddox stayed in the hospital to recover and seemed fine by the end of the semester. He finished his classes, graduating with a degree in sports management, and went home for the holidays. He signed with an agent and was invited to the East-West Shrine game.

Then on Christmas Eve, it started all over again.

The infection returned, and Maddox went back under the knife.

For someone who missed one game in four years, it seemed like Maddox’s luck was wearing thin. But he was determined to get that one game back and worked hard to rehab his leg so he would be ready for Saturday’s contest.

“Matt was probably the hardest-working guy on the field for four years,” Illinois teammate and roommate JJ Simmons said. “He’s not really a vocal leader, but he leads by his work ethic.”

Three weeks after his second surgery, Maddox got the OK to travel to the game. He drove to St. Louis through the ice storm that carpeted the country last week and arrived at a hotel that had lost power.

But Maddox knows he’s at a disadvantage compared to potential draftees coming off winning seasons. He knows guys who went to bowl games are likely to get attention before a player in a rebuilding program. So for him, this game is that much more important.

The game Saturday will be well-attended by agents and scouts looking for the best of the best, athletes who can play at the next level.

“It’s like a job interview with pads,” Maddox said.

But Simmons says he has no doubt Maddox will follow former Illini Duke Preston, now with the Buffalo Bills, and Dave Diehl, now with the New York Giants, into the NFL. Simmons said this game will be just the first of Maddox’s success stories.

“We didn’t get to go to a bowl game, so this is like his bowl game,” Simmons said. “It’s good he’s getting some recognition for what he does. He’s definitely one of those O-linemen who’s overworked and underappreciated.

“When you compare him to Duke Preston, Dave Diehl, he may not have as many wins. But Matt’s got the fight, the work ethic to be a pro offensive lineman.”