ANALYSIS : Their Time Already Is Running Out : Raiders: Through four games, the team has rushed for 294 yards in 84 carries, for an average of only 73.5 per game.

Deep into the frustration of another loss a couple of weeks ago, Raider assistant coach Bill Meyers stared across the press box at offensive coordinator Tom Walsh, narrowed his eyes and yelled, “Run the damn ball!”

If only they could.

The Raiders are supposed to be enjoying this, their only weekend off this season, but they can’t really enjoy it. Not if they start thinking about how far off course they were on three of the four weekends they played.

Thought to be Super Bowl-bound by some, the Raiders now seem bound for oblivion, their 1-3 record leaving them ahead of only the 0-4 Denver Broncos in the AFC West.

There are plenty of places to point the finger: The inconsistency caused by quarterback Jeff Hostetler’s throwing problems in the first two games, the distraction caused by defensive end Scott Davis’ absence, the failure to generate a strong pass rush, dropped passes, unnecessary penalties and questionable play calling.

But forget all of that. The Raiders can solve all of those problems, and indeed already have done so with some of them, and they still won’t go anywhere in 1994. Not without a running game.

So where have all the runners gone?

Bo Jackson is an Angel, Marcus Allen is a Kansas City Chief, Eric Dickerson is in retirement, Greg Robinson is trying to regain full use of his left knee and Napoleon McCallum is trying to regain full use of his left leg.

The Raiders certainly haven’t had much luck with the position. In the last four years, they have lost one of the most explosive runners in pro football history, the biggest single-season ground gainer, one of the league’s most productive touchdown scorers ever, their leading rusher last season and their leading scorer on the ground among their running backs. Allen is the only one they could have done anything about.

The Raiders finished 26th in the 28-team league in rushing last year. You know it’s bad when your leading scorer on the ground, who is the leading holdover from last year’s rushing corps, is your quarterback. Hostetler rushed for five touchdowns and 202 yards. Those numbers say as much about the running game as they do about Hostetler.

The Raiders didn’t merely sit around and agonize over all of this in the off-season. With two solid offensive linemen already in place on the left side, the team shored up the right by signing Kevin Gogan, the imposing veteran from the Dallas Cowboys.

They let fullback Steve Smith go, but seemed to have not only maintained their strength at that position, but perhaps improved on it by signing San Francisco 49er veteran Tom Rathman. With Robinson not expected back until midseason at the earliest, the Raiders signed veteran Harvey Williams and drafted Calvin Jones of Nebraska. When McCallum suffered a season-ending injury in this season’s opener, the Raiders signed former New York Giant Jerrod Bunch.

So what is the result of all this?

Through four games, the Raiders have rushed for 294 yards in 84 carries for an average of 73.5 yards per game. Projected over a 16-game season, that comes out to 1,176 yards.

That would leave them 249 yards short of their total last season, when they averaged 89.1 yards.

Williams is the Raider rushing leader. But he has yet to reach 100 yards total . He has gained 90 and has a 2.7-yard average. Ty Montgomery is next with 73 yards and a 2.8-yard average.

Circumstances have had something to do with that. The Raiders were never ahead in either of their first two games, forcing Coach Art Shell to scrap any thoughts of establishing a ground game.

But at some point, he is going to have to do so if he is to salvage this season. How? Shell could:

--Make Williams the starting tailback and stick with him. Williams is a natural tailback; Montgomery is not. Williams was signed to see what he could do. It’s still difficult to tell because the Raiders insist on running by committee. Give Williams the ball 20 times per game and find out whether he can realize his potential.

--Use Rathman more, especially in short-yardage and goal-line situations. He has only 10 carries in the four games, only four more than Hostetler, who might still be the best runner on the team. Rathman has gained as many as 427 yards in a season. Over a two-year period, he scored 13 touchdowns rushing. Even two years ago, the last time he was injury free, Rathman rushed for five touchdowns. Yet when the Raiders had a crucial fourth and three last week against the San Diego Chargers, they went off left tackle with Williams.

--See what Bunch can do. Two years ago, the last time he wasn’t slowed by injury, Bunch averaged 4.8 yards per carry, second highest in the league that season.

--Give Jones a chance. He was the second-leading rusher in Nebraska history with 3,153 yards and 40 touchdowns. Will his style work in the NFL? This might be a good time to find out.

--Use Rocket Ismail more. The Raiders are understandably cautious about risking injury to the 5-foot-11, 180-pounder by using him regularly in the backfield. He is too valuable as a kick returner and pass receiver to take chances. But as a change of pace, Ismail, on a reverse or merely an occasional carry, can throw defenses off stride. He wasn’t named Rocket because of a plodding style.

Shell has said he is using this respite to explore all his options. Whatever the Raiders decide to do when their season resumes next Sunday on the road against the New England Patriots, their best option can be summed up in four words: Run the damn ball.