Count this as a comeback win

For the fifth-year senior from Woburn, it was very much a big deal.

“I feel like the new guy,’’ said McLaughlin with a laugh yesterday. “It was a big step mentally.’’

McLaughlin is hardly new at BC. For the past two years, he has been the defensive cocaptain and starting middle linebacker, the one who calls the schemes that defensive coordinator Billy McGovern wants as the game ebb and flows around him.

As McLaughlin said, “The ‘mike’ guy [i.e. middle linebacker] is the quarterback on defense.’’

But until this week, McLaughlin was a quarterback on the sideline, dealing with the long and sometime frustrating process of recovering from the ruptured right Achilles’ tendon he sustained in a routine drill last March.

“It was something I had done maybe a million times before,’’ said McLaughlin. “Just backpedaling and then turning.’’

Only this time, it was very different. McLaughlin heard the noise of the tear and felt the pain. The doctors who performed surgery on McLaughlin at Massachusetts General Hospital told him it was “just a freak thing,’’ and that the minimum recovery time was six months.

So McLaughlin targeted mid-September for his return.

“There was never a doubt I would be back,’’ he said. “I was out doing pushups and situps a day after the surgery.’’

McLaughlin went through rehab, but riding the exercise bike was tough to take while his teammates were on the field practicing. It was even tougher when the season began.

Two weeks ago, he returned to practice on a limited basis.

“Physically, he was cleared to go, but mentally, that’s a different story,’’ said BC coach Frank Spaziani. “Each person is different. It can be a tricky thing.’’

In last week’s 25-7 loss to Clemson, McLaughlin dressed for the first time this season, though he did not play. On Tuesday, he was ready, back on the first team as the Eagles prepared for their game against Wake Forest at Alumni Stadium Saturday.

It will be a big deal, because a sense of urgency now exists. The Eagles’ play against Clemson was ugly on offense, although more than adequate defensively. If they continue to struggle offensively, they will have to do more defensively, coming up not only with stops but turnovers and even points.

“I’m as hungry as I’ve ever been,’’ said McLaughlin, who will go as long as he can and as hard as he can against Wake Forest before freshman Luke Kuechly comes in to give him a breather.

“I’m making progress. But it’s going to take time. As hard as I was working, being in football condition is a lot different. If I need a blow, Luke has proven he can play.’’

McLaughlin will go up against Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner for the third and probably final time.

“He’s very accurate, if not the best quarterback in the ACC,’’ said McLaughlin, who knows that the Eagles have had more success against Skinner than almost any other team in the conference, limiting him to three touchdown passes in three games.

McLaughlin must do other things than find a way to stop Skinner. He knows he must provide senior leadership on the field. He knows he must find a way to get his teammates to shake off the bad feeling from their loss to Clemson.

He knows the defense has to do more, maybe much more, if the Eagles are to extend their string of bowl appearances to 11 years.

Three games in Mike McLaughlin’s season cannot be recovered. He knows this. He also knows that his final season at BC officially starts Saturday.

“I can’t wait,’’ he said.