Mike Loftus will be back in the starting lineup Saturday at Memphis (photo by SMU athletics).

• If anyone left a stroller in Gerald J. Ford Stadium during the Rutgers game, it was still there this morning.

• WR Der’Rikk Thompson did some light running on the side.

• WR Keenan Holman, who sat out last week’s practices after suffering a neck injury in the Rutgers game, took part in practice on a limited basis Monday. Holman said last week that he plans to be “good to go” this week.

• CB J.R. Richardson has been playing hurt this season after breaking his thumb while defending a pass in the Mustangs’ season opener against Texas Tech when the receiver inadvertently pulled Richardson’s thumb backward. If the injury doesn’t heal properly on its own, surgery could be a possibility after the season, but for now, there is no indication that will be necessary.

• Punter Mike Loftus will be back in the starting lineup Saturday after he was lifted from the Rutgers game after averaging 19 yards on a pair of first-half punts.

“The first one got up in the wind and turned toward the sideline, but the wind isn’t the reason for it,” Loftus said. “When you mishit a ball and it gets up in the wind, that makes a mistake look worse, but the bottom line is that I didn’t hit it right.

“It’s not that you can’t kick in the rain. It rained last year when we played TCU, and I punted OK in that game. I just hit a couple of bad ones against Rutgers. It happens. The rain had nothing to do with it. My drop was a little different, and it affected the way I hit the ball. It’s that simple.”

SMU head coach June Jones said Monday that Loftus will remain the punter Saturday at Memphis.

The change was made because of the direction of Loftus’s punts, more than distance. A year ago, Loftus earned honorable mention All-Conference USA honors after a season in which he averaged 41.9 yards on 52 punts, with nine punts of 50 or more yards. This season, he has averaged 41.1 yards on 25 punts, and already has seven punts of 50 or more yards. After an inconsistent start to the 2012 season, Loftus found his groove at UTEP, when he averaged 48.3 yards on six punts.

“I got in a rhythm — I did want I knew I could do,” Loftus said. “Punting is a little like pitching. The pitcher for the Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw) is hot right now. When things go right, they go right. It’s the same thing with punting — when things are going right, you’re doing your job, but nobody really notices. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of focus and getting that rhythm.”

Also similar to pitchers, punters can be superstitious. He and his brother, Connor, who kicks for Penn, both where the number 99 on their jerseys — a distinctively abnormal number for a kicker. (“I wanted to wear 15, which I wore in high school,” Loftus said, “but that’s what Thomas Morstead wore here. I wanted my own.”) They both tape their wrists before each game, writing each other’s names and the names of their parents.”

Loftus said he is eager to get back on the field to show that his performance against Rutgers was an abnormality.

“I’m ready” for Memphis, Loftus said. “I’m OK with what happened (Saturday), because I know that’s not me. I just have to do what I do in practice. I hit it well last week (during the Mustangs’ bye week), and I hit it well today, too. I just have to keep my energy up, keep my focus up, and do what I know I can do.”