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AUSTIN, Texas -- It may be the question 2021 USC tight end commit Lake McRee gets the most these days, and while it's probably not his favorite subject matter, it had to be asked one more time as TrojanSports.com visited him in Austin, Texas, on Thursday.

How is the knee doing after ACL surgery and the long road back over this last year?

"I feel great in my knee. The first two games that I played they really went well, I had no problem with my knee, but after that my back got tweaked a little bit in practice so I have been sitting out these past two weeks -- better safe than sorry. It's not a big deal at all," he said.

The 6-foot-5, 215-pound McRee had 6 catches for 70 yards over those first two games, according to MaxPreps, as he started to get back into the rhythm again after missing his entire junior season.

McRee, who arrived at Lake Travis High School as a quarterback before later being moved to tight end, had really emerged late in his sophomore season, racking up 17 catches for 274 yards and 2 TDs (averaging 16.1 yards per reception). Once his highlights started making the rounds, his recruiting took off that spring and summer (including the Trojans offer as he competed in a camp at USC).

There was a lot of excitement for what McRee would do his junior year, but he tore his ACL in the preseason and had to remain patient for the moment that finally arrived this fall.

"It was a really good feeling. I think the best word to describe it was really surreal. It didn't settle that I was kind of back from a long rehab process until like the third drive of the first game, and then it was a really cool feeling and I couldn't ask for much more. I'm really glad to be back," he said. "I just kind of want to show that the little glimpse I showed them sophomore year I'm still that player and that person on the field. But most of all I just really want to win. I don't care, as long as we get the win, the team plays good and we get better every week, that's really the biggest thing for me."

Watch our full 9-minute video interview below: