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Hardly anyone knew that Justin Fargas would be the starting tailback that day against Oregon.  Even some of his teammates were surprised when he showed up in the huddle before the first snap.  It was a moment that, as Fargas put it, was "a long time coming."

Back in the late nineties, he had been a schoolboy hero at Notre Dame High, only 25 minutes up the freeway from USC.  With an angular build and smooth running style, he had made the spectacular look routine.  One play, in particular, was part of the local folklore: somersaulting over a pileup at the line, Fargas landed on his feet and kept running 35 yards to the end zone.  Everyone expected the senior to perform this sort of magic for the hometown Trojans, but when the program fired John Robinson and brought in pass-oriented Paul Hackett, Fargas went to Michigan instead.  Thus began a four-year odyssey.

His college career got off to a fast start in 1998, the freshman worked his way into the rotation and rushing for 120 yards in ankle deep mud at Northwestern.  Michigan coach Lloyd Carr called him "a real bright spot . . . that kid showed a lot."  Then came a brutal injury against Wisconsin, his right leg so badly shattered that doctors pondered amputating the foot.  They tried reassembling the bones with titanium rods and, when that didn't work, had to rebreak the leg and start over, this time inserting metal plates.  Fargas needed almost two years to recover and, by the time he returned in 2000, the Wolverines had talented running backs Anthony Thomas and Chris Perry above him on the depth chart.  After a brief attempt at playing in the secondary, it became clear, he said, "I wasn't going to accomplish my dreams at Michigan."

Carroll had taken over at USC that winter, so Fargas and his father, Antonio- the actor who played "Huggy Bear" in the seventies television series Starsky and Hutch- met with the new coach to discuss a transfer.  Antonio said his son "needed to be close to home . . . to come back and pick up the pieces."  Carroll agreed, and Justin made the switch immediately, leaving Michigan even as the team was preparing for the Citrus Bowl.  He enrolled in classes at USC and, though NCAA rules prohibited him from playing the 2001 season, wasted no time establishing himself as a star on the practice field.

Something about the young man had changed.  There was an element of ferocity now, and the very sound of him running in scrimmages- a cacophony of grunting, feet churning, the clack of shoulder pads as he confronted one tackler after another- caused teammates and coaches to stop and watch from other parts of the field.  "He was breaking tackles and doing everything he could," Cody recalled.  "He's a wild man."  On the final day of spring practice in 2002, Fargas carried 12 times for 111 yards.

It seemed the stage was set for him to start the next fall, but there was another setback, a strained hamstring in training camp, and Sultan McCullough kept the job.  Fargas was growing desperate.  Although Carroll intended to keep him on the sideline until he was free of injury, the senior coaxed running back coach Kennedy Pola into sending him in for one play against Colorado, a four-yard gain.  Carroll immediately ordered the equipment managers to confiscate his helmet.  Fargas said sheepishly, "I'm just happy to get that first carry out of the way."

Maybe the biggest play of his career came five weeks later against Washington.  The 13-yard touchdown run, late in a blowout victory, wasn't nearly as impressive as the way his teammates mobbed him afterward.  This show of emotion struck Carroll, who quietly decided to start Fargas because of "a gut feeling . . . sometimes they work, sometimes they don't."

This one did.  Fargas rushed for 139 yards against Oregon, including a 15-yard touchdown that broke the game open in the third quarter, and it was something of an understatement when he called that day the highlight of his college career.  The Trojans had a new star in the backfield, a guy who later explained, "The more you carry the ball, the more confident you get."

Even if you have to wait four years.

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