Wolfpack's Irving probable for FSU game

N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien said Wednesday that he doesn’t know how much linebacker Nate Irving will play Thursday night against Florida State.

Irving, who has missed the past two games with an ankle injury, is listed as probable, which means he has a 75 percent chance of playing against the Seminoles.

“I think he can play some, but we’ll have to wait and see as he heals here in the next 24 hours and as the game goes on Thursday night,” O’Brien said Wednesday morning during the ACC’s weekly coaches’ teleconference.

Defensive tackle Alan-Michael Cash, who is returning from a three-game absence because of knee surgery, has practiced a whole week and will return Thursday.

O’Brien called Cash the team’s best defensive lineman and Irving the best defensive player.

So it’s important for us to get the two of them back in there and get them playing,” O’Brien said. “But what we have to do is be careful. Neither one of them has played in over a month and have been in game action. Their playing time will be limited somewhat because we still have five games after this one to play.”