ATHENS - Kolton Houston remains ineligible, but the Georgia football team is still doing what it can to get the offensive lineman on the field.

Houston, as you may recall from the preseason, has been in limbo since he arrived on campus in 2010. He tested positive for a banned substance, Norandrolone, in an NCAA test. Since then he has continued to test positive because, according to UGA, the substance has simply remained in his system, and not because he has continued to use.

This led to an interesting exchange of letters between UGA officials and NCAA president Mark Emmert.

Georgia head athletic trainer Ron Courson said back in August that the team would continue to administer tests on Houston, hoping that at some point he would reach the NCAA's acceptable level of hormone levels.

Courson reiterated that this week, and also indicated that the team is exploring other ways of pushing its argument with the NCAA.

"We're still working on the appeal process," Courson said. "We're testing, and also we're exploring some different options with some different specialists. It's something we still feel very strongly about. We're trying to be the best advocate for him that we can."

Those other options, Courson indicated, were consulting with others on ways to show scientifically that Houston has not injected any banned substances since high school.

"We're trying to demonstrate with scientific evidence and medicine that he's in compliance and push for reinstatement with the NCAA," Courson said.

Houston, now a redshirt sophomore, might have been a starter for Georgia this year. If at any point he does become eligible, head coach Mark Richt has said the team will get him ready to play. But until then, Houston is mostly working scout team.