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RALEIGH -- It's a short week for an N.C. State football team that needs time to heal.

The Wolfpack's defense is wounded again and there's not much time to assess options with Thursday night's game at Cincinnati on the schedule.

The latest move is inserting senior Dwayne Maddox as a starting linebacker in place of Terrell Manning, who underwent surgery Monday for a knee injury sustained in Saturday night's victory against South Alabama.

"It's kind of difficult to play defense around here," coach Tom O'Brien told the Burlington Times-News, referring to the growing injury list on that unit. "It's week-to-week trying to get guys healthy."

After practice Tuesday, O'Brien said Manning will spend the next three weeks rehabilitating his left knee. Manning is fifth on the team with 14 tackles.

Fullback Taylor Gentry said the quick turnaround between games comes with a price.

"I'm still sore from Saturday's game," Gentry said Monday. "You just fight through it, push through it. How quick can you get ready for Thursday's game?

"It's more of getting your body right and executing the offense for us. We know the plays. We have the plays installed already."

It may be just coach-speak, but O'Brien sounds concerned.

"Everything is condensed," the Wolfpack coach said. "Everything is faster. You can't spend as much time on the field."

For O'Brien, the game is a return to his hometown. It also will be a homecoming for senior defensive end Jeff Rieskamp if he's healthy enough to play after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury.

O'Brien and offensive coordinator Dana Bible attended high school in Cincinnati, Bible played and was an assistant coach for the Bearcats and was the Cincinnati Bengals' quarterbacks coach for three seasons. Three other assistants also have Cincinnati-area connections.

Tight ends coach Don Horton "grew up in the city and went to Wittenberg and has a lot of great ties," O'Brien said. "When I was growing up, the Catholic league in Cincinnati was as good as any league there was in the nation and still is."