I play for things like this… #F**kCancer #LoveYouPops pic.twitter.com/A2RLphjwhR

— Andre James (@AndreJames75) September 6, 2017

Training camp is hard enough. Then Andre James got a call from his dad Marcus minutes before walking onto the field for practice last month.

Marcus had cancer.

“You always hear about people getting cancer, but you never think about someone so close to you getting cancer like my dad. I was just in shock,” Andre said. “I thought about him actually passing away, but he’s a fighter. I know what type of dude he is. He’s a hard head. He’s fighting his (rear end) off.”

While Marcus battles an aggressive form of testicular cancer at home in Utah, he encourages Andre to keep fighting for the Bruins.

“I’m going to be fine,” Marcus said. “This Is just going to be something in our past that we’ll look back on as something we got through.”

More on the James family and Marcus’ fight with cancer

Other links:

• Despite staggering yardage numbers, the UCLA offense won’t rest until it cuts down on turnovers
• I talk UCLA football with the Boulder Daily Camera on the BuffZone podcast
• Five questions on Colorado
• Answers to your UCLA football questions in our weekly Q&A