Green’s Dictionary of Slang

rubber v.1

(US campus) to annoy; to deceive or trick; to put at a disadvantage, to question.

[US]E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 55: rubber, v. 1. To annoy. 2. To deceive or trick. 3. To get the better of, as in a joke. 4. To question curiously.