Pitt's Conner feels unstoppable after beating cancer

Pitt running back James Conner wasn't going to let cancer dictate how he lived his life during treatment.

The junior, who also tore his MCL last year, was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in December 2015, and promised right away that he would play football again.

Conner has had one date in mind: Sept. 3, when Pitt faces off against Villanova in the Panthers' season opener.

Following each of his 12 chemotherapy treatments, he would head to the gym the next day and work out, doing everything he needed to do physically to get back onto the field with his teammates.

"The day after, many patients spend it taking it easy," Dr. Stanley Marks told Nicole Auerbach of USA Today. "He would go and work out."

Conner was declared cancer-free last month, and while he isn't yet back to full strength, he believes he's on track to being in the best shape of his life when the season begins.

"I'm being strict with the diet. I'm being focused in the weight room. Every day I'm trying to get back there."

In 2014, the Erie, Pa., native was one of the best backs in college football, rushing for 1,765 yards and 26 touchdowns, but he feels he's now got a better frame of mind after battling cancer.

"I feel like I'm not worried about anybody on the schedule. I'm not being cocky, it's just confident. Once you go through something like this of this magnitude, no other human, really, I believe can stop me. That's the edge I have."