By that time, his weight had dropped to 240 and playing on the line was no longer an option. Glicksberg became a blocking tight end, remaining at that position through last season, suffering a shoulder injury that left a knot along his clavicle. Then a new coaching staff arrived.
Rick Neuheisel and his assistants took one look at the roster and noticed a shortage of offensive linemen. They asked Glicksberg to switch back, which required adding size.
"It's not in his genetic predisposition to be really big, so he had to go over and above," said Becci Twombley, the director of sports nutrition at UCLA. "We're not just talking about eating 3,000 calories to gain weight. We're talking 5,000 calories, and that's a lot of food."
While cheeseburgers and fries might have done the trick, Twombley recommended a healthier diet. Knowing Glicksberg's ambivalence toward food, she devised a regimen of small, frequent servings.
The formerly ignored breakfast became mandatory. Glicksberg found himself gulping protein shakes and chewing on nutrition bars between classes, loading up at the training table each night.
"A lot of times, I just wouldn't be hungry," he said. "I'd have a few bites and feel full, but my plate would have to be clean before I could leave."
One more thing: He had to eat before bedtime, maybe a burrito or a few peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, anything to pack on the calories.
Twombley commonly sees weight and nutrition problems among athletes at her school. They are too heavy or too light. They choose the wrong foods. "There's always something," she said.
This season's media guide suggested that Glicksberg's diligence paid off. Listed at 300 pounds -- a generous interpretation, perhaps -- he started at left guard in the opener against Tennessee and later switched to right guard for several games.
But the rigors of the season soon eroded much of his gains, the scale's pointer drifting left. He also ran into trouble a few weeks ago, briefly suspended for failing a drug test. He said the incident was embarrassing but declined to comment further.
"It's been very, very difficult for him," line coach Palcic said. "He works hard."
No longer a starter, Glicksberg will be in the rotation tonight, trying to help a Bruins offensive line that has struggled mightily this fall. Neuheisel explained: "I don't think he's a 60- or 70-play guy. We'll get [first-stringer Micah Kia] started and then Glicks will roll . . . they'll both play."
It's largely a matter of girth. Glicksberg knows that.
An articulate young man with cropped hair and a neatly trimmed beard, he has tried to remain patient, saying "whatever I can do to help us win . . . if the coach told me to drop 100 pounds and play cornerback, I'd try."
This philosophical approach goes only so far. Asked about his current weight, he winces slightly, tilting his head to one side.
Two-seventy-five. Ish.
Like so many people do, he appears to be fudging by a few pounds. But in the other direction.
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david.wharton@latimes.com
