To borrow from a Bruce Springsteen song title, Northwest Missouri State defensive end Sean Paddock must believe he was “Born to Run.”

The 6-foot-2, 285-pound junior provided a thrilling, yet almost comical 52-yard return of a fumble two weekends ago at Truman State. He tightly clung to the ball with both hands as he rumbled toward the goal line. The Bulldogs closed in on him for the last 15 yards, dropping him at the 6-yard line.

“I should have had a little more faith in my speed, I think,” Paddock said at the time, “but I did the smart thing and just covered it up and let our offense score.”

Paddock was in the right place at the right time again on Saturday at Nebraska-Omaha, as quarterback Zach Miller fumbled the ball into the end zone.

Emboldened by his previous success, Paddock admits now that he had thoughts about taking off downfield again.

Thankfully, he changed his mind.

“I was just making my way toward the play, and I looked down and the ball was right there,” Paddock said. “I thought about running with it, but then I realized where I was and just took a knee.”

Paddock has had two fumble recoveries, a blocked kick and a tackle for loss in the past two games, and coach Mel Tjeerdsma has credited his penetration with disrupting Omaha’s offense last week in a second straight shutout.

“On our point system for defensive players, he scored about as many points last week as a defensive tackle ever has,” Tjeerdsma said.

And he didn’t even have to run with the ball to do it.