Corey Liuget faced a major dilemma after the 2009 season.

The Illinois defensive lineman missed the comforts of his Miami home, and the snow and cold enveloping Champaign, Ill., didn't help matters.

"It was just me missing home, family and the Miami lifestyle," Liuget said. "I'm so used to the sun out every day and being able to go to the beach, kick my feet up on the sand and do whatever.

"There's no sand around here."

But when Liuget called his mom to tell her he wanted to come home, Lorene Liuget responded to her son like a Big Ten running back would.

With a stiff arm.

"My mom was like, 'You're not welcome back home,'" Liuget said. "I was like, 'Well, I could live with this person or that person.' And she was like, 'Don't even think about living with them. It’s not going to happen. We expect a lot more out of you.'"

Liuget was homesick but couldn't go home. Quite a dilemma, indeed.

"I had to think, 'Either stay here and get an education and play football, or go home and be a nobody,'" Liuget said. "I would have to find my own place to live. It was going to be tough for me.

"So I decided to stay."

The decision is paying off for both Liuget and the Fighting Illini. Liuget is blossoming for a much-improved Illinois defense, recording 29 tackles, a team-high six tackles for loss, two sacks, a team-high four quarterback hurries and two pass breakups this year.

The 6-foot-3, 285-pound Liuget recorded a career-high 11 tackles, including a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries, last week at No. 7 Michigan State. His tackles total marked the most by an Illinois defensive lineman since Mike O'Brien had 12 against Missouri in 2002.

"Corey Liuget is legit," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald, who watched Liuget (pronounced Legit) while scouting the Illinois-Michigan State game.

Liuget came to Illinois as a decorated recruit in 2008 and started two games at defensive tackle as a true freshman, recording a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and five tackles for loss. He made four starts last season, racking up eight tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and 36 total tackles.

Not bad numbers, but not what Liuget had envisioned.

"Even though I was playing and making plays," he said, "it wasn't like what Adrian Clayborn was doing at Iowa, or Brandon Graham at Michigan. Those guys were already set in the Big Ten."

It didn't help that Illinois went 5-7 and 3-9 in Liuget's first two seasons, and made a change at defensive coordinator following the 2009 campaign.

Liuget thought about transferring to a school in Florida; mom quickly shot down the idea.

"She told me if I would transfer anywhere, I wouldn't be welcome at home at all," he said. "Me being the first male out of my family to actually go to college was pretty exciting for everybody. That played a role in why my mom was like, 'Everybody wants to see you succeed and be the first one to get a college degree.'"

After making the decision to stay and putting his mind at ease, Liuget set out to improve his body. He played last season well north of 300 p0unds but trimmed 30 pounds off his frame to get down to a lean 285.

Liuget initially had "a fishy feeling" about new Illini defensive coordinator Vic Koenning but bought in during spring ball when he witnessed Koenning's high-energy style.

"I was like, 'Wow, this guy's crazy. He's going to get me to where I need to be,'" he said.

Liuget credits Koenning, defensive line coach Keith Gilmore and others for helping him along. He's one of several former big-time recruits -- linebacker Martez Wilson is another -- to emerge this fall for the Illini defense.

"Not only is he stepping up his game on the football field, but he's stepping up his leadership in practice," Illinois head coach Ron Zook said. "That has a lot to do with how our defense has improved. ... Corey's becoming more of a vocal leader than he has in the past, and he's been improving every week, every game."

Illinois sits at 3-3 but has gone through by far the toughest part of its schedule. If things go right in the second half, the Illini will go bowling.

Three of the Big Ten's tie-in bowls -- Capital One, Outback and Gator -- happen to take place in Florida.

Lorene Liuget wouldn't mind welcoming home her son in January.

"She showed me some tough love right there and then," Liuget said. "But hey, it made me a better person."