Rush attended
Michigan State University,
majoring in
advertising. In
2010, he
redshirt his freshman season. In
2011, as a redshirt freshman, he started all 14 games at defensive end. He recorded 58 tackles, 12 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, five passes defensed, and one forced fumble. For the season, he was named
Big Ten Defensive
Most Valuable Player (MVP) by
ESPN.com, All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media, first-team Freshman All-American by the
Football Writers Association of America (FWAA),
Sporting News, and second-team Freshman All-American by
Yahoo! Sports,
Phil Steele, and CollegeFootballNews.com. He was also named to ESPN.com, Yahoo! Sports, and BTN.com Big Ten All-Freshman team. As a redshirt sophomore in
2012, he started all 13 games. He recorded 38 tackles (19 solo), 7.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, five quarterback hurries, one forced fumble, and five passes defensed. He was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media. In
2013 as a redshirt junior, he started 13-of-14 games. He recorded 30 tackles, 7.5 tackles-for-loss, and five sacks. He was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media. In
2014, as a redshirt senior, he started all 13 games. He recorded 37 tackles, 10.5 tackles-for-loss, and 7.5 sacks. He was named All-Big Ten honorable mention by the coaches and media. He was a co-winner of the team's Downtown Coaches Club Award for outstanding senior on defense. He also won the President's Award. ==Professional career==