In football, the fullback is only slightly less nondescript or uncelebrated than an offensive lineman.

He’s like a grunt who gets to handle the ball once in a great while in most offenses.

Then there are the fullbacks who force you to notice them. Guys like Earl Campbell and Jim Brown. Guys who transcend their position with talents that force coaches to find ways to get them the ball.

Shawmut native Don Thibodeau may never reach the hallowed heights that those runners did, or demonstrate the kind of receiving skills or devastating blocking ability that makes names like Mike Alstott or Christian Okoye household ones, but he’s not a forgotten man either.

After rushing for 275 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries in Maine Maritime Academy’s season-opening 21-13 win over Mount Ida College last Saturday, anyone familiar with MMA football knows the fifth-year senior’s name.

“I didn’t even realize what I had until the next day,” said Thibodeau, who is back for his senior season after taking a year off to participate in an engineering cooperative program in which he worked all over the country. “I knew I had a lot of carries, but I thought I had maybe 200 yards tops.”

Thibodeau gives much of the credit for his career-best, single-game performance out of MMA’s triple-option offense to his offensive line: Jessie Hensley, Gorham grads Joe Crowe and Cam Rand, sophomore Andrew Thoms of Brewer, and freshman John Logus.

“The blocking up front was unreal all game,” said the 23-year-old Thibodeau. “Really, I was hardly getting touched and they were blowing the defensive line back most of the game.”

Impressive statistics aren’t new to the 23-year-old Thibodeau, who played fullback and linebacker at Lawrence High School before rushing for 900 yards as a freshman at MMA and being named New England Football Conference rookie of the year. After a knee injury ended his sophomore season in the fourth game, he came back to rush for 1,200 yards as a junior.

Still, Thibodeau didn’t get all those yards handed to him. He had to run over, outrace, spin off, and drag or carry along some would-be tacklers along the way.

“He’s a tough runner. He used his speed on some runs, and on others, he put his shoulder down and ground it out,” said MMA coach Chris McKenney. “He’s tough to bring down, whether he’s in traffic or out in the open.”

The son of Steve Thibodeau and Roseanne Robbins and power engineering major is thoroughly enjoying this season, and it shows. A lot of it has to do with his “co-op” experience for Mitsubishi Power Systems of Orlando, Fla. He worked as a technician and then site manager/supervisor for gas turbine overhauls in locations in Boston, Texas, and Mexico.

Thibodeau’s break from the classroom recharged his batteries for school and made him miss football even more.

“The experience, money, and connections were invaluable to me,” he said. “It was a hard decision to leave my friends my senior year with all the guys I came in graduating last year, but I really learned a lot.

“It was great, but I was anxious to come back and this year has been a breeze for me so far and we’re expecting big things out of the team this year.”