Fayette — Former Trinity Episcopal and Northwestern State wide receiver Dudley Guice Jr. may have drastically improved his status in the NFL Draft this past weekend.

Guice had a standout performance in the Texas vs. The Nation game in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, in which he had a game-record five receptions.

He caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Tulsa quarterback David Johnson, and he was two yards away from breaking the game’s receiving yards record.

“I’m not really a person that lacks confidence, but it gave me even more confidence to show that I could play well against other schools,” Guice said. “It also gave me the initiative to train harder so I can be prepared for whatever lies ahead.”

That training is no joke. Guice is in Mandeville working with strength and conditioning coach Chad Englehart to prepare for Northwestern’s pro day and what Guice hopes will be an invitation to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.

He trains in the weight room and on the field for more than nine hours a day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, does pool work and yoga on Wednesdays and speed and agility work on Saturdays.

Guice’s agent, Shane Williams with 3SG Sports Management, said the 6-foot-2.5-inch, 215-pound receiver has already garnered interest from Atlanta, Cleveland, St. Louis, Oakland and Baltimore just from the week of practice before the game.

“Before he went to that game he probably wasn’t on a lot of watch lists,” Williams said. “But by the end of the week he was on just about everybody’s list. He made a big impact with his play in practice, and he continued that with his play in the game.”

Cecil Lammey, a writer for www.draftguys.com wrote of Guice before the game, “Guice is winning us over… He extends to catch the ball outside of his frame like a natural, and his body control to get both feet in on a fade astounded us when we watched the play on tape, just as it did in real time at the stadium… We think he’s got to be shooting up the draft boards now.”

Guice played his senior season of prep football under David King at Trinity before transferring back to Jefferson County High School, where he played basketball before graduating in 2004.

He is the son of Dudley Guice Sr. and Cassandra Guice of Fayette and the youngest of three kids.

He originally committed to Mississippi State but changed his mind with the hiring of Sylvester Croom.

He graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice in May 2008 with a 3.597 GPA and was a three-time selection to the Southland Conference All-Academic Football Team. He was named this season’s Capital One/Southland Conference Football Student-Athlete of the Year.