Purdue fans are familiar with point guard Lewis Jackson's toughness.

He's often the smallest player on the floor, and that's left him vulnerable to vicious screens (and the resulting concussions) over his three-year career with the Boilermakers.

He also played during Purdue's NCAA tournament run in his sophomore season with a broken screw in his surgerically repaired left foot.

But perhaps the best example of Jackson's toughness -- and competitive nature -- are in this story that Jackson's mom, Zinda Chargois-Jackson, told me.