All signs continue to point toward Georgia junior running back Nick Chubb making his comeback in the Sept. 3 Atlanta season opener against North Carolina. So much so, that even Chubb’s typically reserved head coach Kirby Smart has been publicly warming to the idea.

During a guest segment of Sports Radio 680 radio program The Front Row, Smart was asked if Georgia’s top running back would be making an appearance in UGA’s opening game against the Tar Heels.

“It’s pointing in that direction,” Smart said on the air.

Smart was also asked about fellow junior running back Sony Michel, who recently had his cast removed following his Fourth of July ATV accident. When the radio host described Michel as getting extra reps in practice, Smart stopped him.

“Well, I don’t know if he’s getting more reps,” Smart said. “He’s not able to carry the ball yet (in his injured left hand) so it’s a step by step process for him and we don’t know where he’s going to be. We are just challenging him every day to do everything he can do and make himself available, and he’s done everything we’ve asked.”

When the calendar turned to July, who would have thought Chubb was the lock to play against UNC and Michel would be the major question mark? Yet a month and half later that’s where things appear to stand for Georgia’s backfield with the season just days away.