E.T. phoned Wednesday night.

Charles Frederick, "E.T." to his buddies and the dozens of college recruiters that were hot for him last year, hit rock bottom in his first two weeks at Washington and was all set to come back home to Florida. Frederick had been MIA since walking out of Monday's practice after getting into a fight with a teammate. Rumors spread that Frederick, also a top-50 hoops recruit, had become disenchanted by being asked to help out in U-Dub's depleted secondary.

But a source close to Frederick told ESPNMAG.com that the diminutive WR-KR was actually humiliated after the 5'11", 185-pounder got body-slammed in a practice scuffle by Jerramy Stevens, a 6'7", 260-pound all-American TE.

After U-Dub coach Rick Neuheisel met with and tried to persuade Frederick to come back Tuesday, the Husky freshman was still disconsolate. Then, the next night, Frederick called Terry Gough, his surrogate father and former HS football coach, who lit into him for 45 minutes.

"I said, 'I think you're scared. You figured out there's more than one E.T. in the world,'" said Gough. "It was the first time I've ever yelled at him. He was crying. I told him, 'If you leave there, you have no other options. You'll be working at McDonald's for the rest of your life.' I hung up the phone and figured that would be the last time I ever talked to E.T."

Gough then called Frederick's older brother Woody and told him, "E.T.'s (messing) up real bad." The 21-year-old called his kid brother's cell in Seattle and echoed Gough's sentiments.

And Thursday, a re-committed Frederick showed up at Washington's scrimmage. He made one dazzling kick return and hauled in a 20-yard pass. He also gave an emotional apology to his teammates and appears to be ready to be a Husky again -- something that should be great news for Neuheisel since E.T. could be the game-breaker that Washington needs badly. Especially with the opener against Michigan just 10 days away.

Bruce Feldman covers college football for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at bruce.feldman@espnmag.com.