Full Steam Ahead

What DeShaun Foster does best requires no explanation. Just watch him run.

So it strikes the UCLA senior tailback as peculiar that each week he spends one day gripping a football and six days groping for words.

The questions are as predictable as the interviews are endless. How does it feel to lead the nation in rushing? To be the star on an unbeaten team? To be a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy?

Shy and self-effacing, he answers in fragments. His sentences don’t run on, they sort of trail off out of bounds, stopping the clock. Foster favors two expressions: “It’s all right,” and “It’s cool.” Both are followed by a nervous laugh and Cheshire grin.

It’s not that he doesn’t enjoy attention. He’s having fun with it, on his terms. He knows it’s all about fame and, eventually, fortune.

And, yes, he does consider the Heisman. Always has. He’s just not consumed by that particular pose, or any other.

“I try not to get caught up in awards, but you always think about the Heisman as a little kid,” he said. “As the season goes on, it’s becoming something people ask me about more often.”

He’d as soon skip the talk and walk the walk. He has juked and plowed past any other running back and entered rarefied air occupied by a six-pack of quarterback candidates: Miami’s Ken Dorsey, Nebraska’s Eric Crouch, Oregon’s Joey Harrington, Florida’s Rex Grossman, Clemson’s Woodrow Dantzler and Fresno State’s David Carr.

This makes him a lone diesel racing jets. But trains have a romantic quality, don’t they? Since the Heisman’s inception in 1935, the trophy has been awarded to 41 running backs, 20 quarterbacks, five receivers and one defensive back.

Make no mistake, Foster is the express. He has all the qualities of a great runner--vision, acceleration, elusiveness and power. And he possesses a cowcatcher of a straight-arm, knocking defenders off-track.

From a whisper to a scream, his campaign has picked up steam. Several national publications lifted him from an also-ran candidate to the front-runner after his 301-yard, four-touchdown performance Saturday against Washington on national television.

The ingredients are in place for a trophy dash. He plays the right position, he’s putting up the numbers and is the centerpiece of an unbeaten BCS championship game contender.

Although Foster rushed for more than 100 yards in three of four games before the breakout against Washington, UCLA officials promoted him cautiously. There were no billboards, a la Harrington. No CD-ROM, personal Web site and promotional notepads, a la Oregon State’s Ken Simonton.

Foster’s campaign developed naturally, like one of his runs. He waited patiently, and when the hole opened he took off, forcing everyone to take notice. Now UCLA is utilizing the tailback to increase ticket sales as well as boost his Heisman chances.

About 100,000 posters of Foster will be distributed to local youth football players. Ads promoting DeShaun for De-Heisman are appearing in newspapers.

“Our approach is that the Heisman is won or lost on the field,” UCLA marketing director Scott Mitchell said. “We didn’t mention the Heisman [in marketing material] until last week, and we did that more along on the lines of selling tickets.

“A player of DeShaun’s stature can help recruiting and create awareness of the program.”

UCLA did not sell out against Washington, even though both teams were unbeaten and ranked in the top 10. And there are only three more home games--Saturday night against California, Nov. 10 against Oregon and Dec. 1 against Arizona State.

Promotional material has focused as much on the Bruin defense as on Foster. Linebacker Robert Thomas, end Kenyon Coleman and safety Marques Anderson are also strong contenders for individual awards.

The genuinely modest Foster sounds almost relieved that some attention is deflected.

“It’s all right,” he said. “The defense deserves as much notice as me. It’s cool.”

UCLA might need to speak up on his behalf. In what is largely a case of out of sight, out of mind, no player from the West has won the Heisman since Marcus Allen of USC in 1981. Highlights from evening games aren’t seen in the Midwest and East, where most of the 175 sportswriters and broadcasters who vote are based.

Foster has been fortunate in this respect. UCLA’s first and only night game is Saturday. Several games were moved to earlier time slots to accommodate television.

The game against Washington was seen by two-thirds of the country. The opener against Alabama in which Foster rushed for 110 yards was nationally televised. But so was the game against Ohio State, when he fumbled four times and had a season-low 66 yards.

Upcoming road games against Stanford and unbeaten Washington State will generate interest and the date with No. 5 Oregon at the Rose Bowl is shaping up as one of the most meaningful Pacific 10 Conference games in years.

Voters anywhere can view Foster’s highlights with a little effort. Clips of his scoring runs are available on the Bruin Web site.

The key is to continue his pace of 162.6 yards a game and approach 2,000 yards. He should rack up huge numbers against winless Cal, which has given up 15 rushing touchdowns.

Stanford and Washington State, on the other hand, are No. 2 and No. 1 in the Pac-10 in run defense. But Stanford is coming off a loss, must play Oregon on Saturday and could be reeling by the time the Bruins visit Palo Alto. And Washington State has 26 sacks, which are counted as runs and skew the statistics.

Foster’s ability to shred a good defense is proven. Washington hadn’t given up a rushing touchdown all season before he scored from five, 21, one and 92 yards.

“It was like he was possessed,” UCLA Coach Bob Toledo said. “He wanted to make a statement.”

He’d rather make one with his feet than his mouth.

“I’m shy, that’s the thing,” Foster said. “I’m not shy around my friends, but I tend to get shy around interviews and cameras.

“I just want the credit to go around, you know, my line, the tight ends, the fullbacks, the receivers making blocks downfield, they’re all part.”

So he finishes his runs better than his sentences. If the yardage and victories keep coming, he’ll have plenty of time to prepare an acceptance speech.

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CALIFORNIA at No. 4 UCLA

Saturday at Rose Bowl

7:15 p.m., Fox Sports Net