R.C. Slocum never admitted the problems he really endured during the 1993 and 1994 recruiting seasons at those typical jubilant press conferences on signing day. There was negative recruiting, he said at the time, but not enough to keep the top prospects from seeing through the haze of lies about A&M.

"In looking at the recruits we got, I really believe it’s one of the most talented groups we’ve had at A&M," Slocum said on Feb. 2, 1994, just a few weeks after the NCAA had handed down its penalty of a five-year probation for the Aggies for the summer job scandal first disclosed in a Dallas Morning News article in December of 1992. "There’s not a guy who wasn’t attacked at some point about A&M. I was really pleased that these players, because of their character and family backgrounds, that they looked through that."

Yes, those 25 athletes Slocum signed that day were able to look past the statements by recruiters that the Aggies were dead men walking and that this was just beginning of more NCAA problems, the tip of an iceberg that was really a glacier headed for a meltdown.

But in looking back at that class of ’94 and the class of ’93 that had to suffer through the first barrage of NCAA "death penalty" talk from recruiters, those classes were solid, but not spectacular. They turned out to be thinner than first thought.

Those two classes, which would produce the juniors and seniors of the 1996 team that struggled to a 1-3 start, were good groups signed under the circumstances. They could have been great.

And Slocum, biting his lip until now, is forthcoming about the ramifications of A&M’s NCAA probation. The Aggies didn’t lose scholarships, but they did lose players. Big-time players. Players that would allow a Brandon Jennings to redshirt and Shun Horn to play his natural position of strong safety.

Linebacker Bert Berry and strong safety Jarvis Edison at Notre Dame. Safety Robert Hammond at Florida State. They were all high school All-Americans who were hot on the Aggies during the recruiting wars.

Now they are starting for two of the most dominant college football programs around. And they could have, should have, been at Texas A&M.

"There were a bunch of guys like that who, when it got right down to it, were just afraid," said Slocum, finally admitting that his hands were shackled during recruiting from 1993-94. "Bert Berry from Notre Dame and some other guys like that. The other recruiters were making a big to-do out of it and using the scare tactics. One year — the year it came out — we had no chance.

"(The recruiters) were talking death penalty. We were virtually shut out on a bunch of kids. We never got in the race on a bunch of them because of the cloud hanging over us."

The point in time the Aggies would hit the first obstacle was 1993 when A&M would sign just eight recruits. Of that class, four players — defensive end Brandon Mitchell, cornerback Donovan Greer, linebacker Larry Walker II and left tackle Chris Ruhman — have become starters for the Aggies. Two players (OL Trason Maresh and DL David Maxwell) have left the team, while two more (DL Brad Crowley and DL Marcus Heard) have become reliable backups.

While fingers have pointed everywhere this fall in Aggieland — to the secondary, to the turnovers, to the play-calling — perhaps a glance back at some February signing days is more appropriate. Granted the Aggies have had their problems this fall, but what came down in the winter of 1994 may have as much to do with the current struggles at A&M as anything.

Slocum certainly points to what happened almost three years ago as a reason for a less-than dominating Aggie program today.

"That’s just part of the deal," Slocum said. "I know why (the current situation) is like that. I haven’t said much about it because I didn’t want to bring it up, and I wanted to distance ourselves from the NCAA thing. I knew at the time it would end up hurting us. Those two years, we really got hammered in recruiting, and it shows up. You always pay for those things.

"That’s something where I’ve tried to make a point with our people that we absolutely cannot afford to have one of those things ever again. Everybody has a responsibility. And in a year or two, people tend to forget about it. But we’re still paying the price for that. And dramatically."

And the lack of a big-time player here or a marquee name there has hurt A&M in 1996. A&M’s two biggest play-makers so far in 1996 have been a junior college transfer in Albert Connell and a mid-term transfer from Tennessee in Branndon Stewart.

From the recruiting class of 1994, which was signed just three weeks after the television satellite trucks from Dallas and Houston lined up outside Rudder Tower to transmit the NCAA’s "good news" back to their stations, six out of the 25 players (Dat Nguyen, Aaron Oliver, Warrick Holdman, Steve McKinney, Shun Horn and Pat Williams) have become starters in 1996. And Williams had to sit out two years in junior college.

Seven players from that class are no longer on the team for various reasons, academic and disciplinary included. The other 12 are trying to return or crack the starting lineup in ’96.

Slocum recalls how the joy of going 12-0 in 1992 suddenly disappeared. What was supposed to be his fall classic turned into the winter of his discontent.

"Here’s a time when we really should have been making hay, have a better chance to win the Cotton Bowl and then have a great recruiting year and take advantage of the 12-0 season," Slocum said. "No one will ever know how devastating that was to us for us coming off a 12-0 season. I had just been to New York to speak at the Heisman Awards banquet, and we were the talk of the country. But that was devastating to us. Then the next year, we still had that hanging over our head."

It’s still hanging. Oh, the dark clouds have left, there’s just been no real pot of gold at the end of any rainbow.

In fact, the "NCAA thing," as he often refers to it, haunts Slocum to this day. It always will.

Just a few weeks ago, Slocum was talking to the mother of a Louisiana recruit. In Robert Hammond country, the mother remembered how Hammond raved about Texas A&M. She remembered Hammond saying he wanted to go to A&M, but...

"She said, ‘Yeah, coach, he really spoke highly of ya’ll. And he said he would have gone to A&M but you had that probation or something going on,’" Slocum said. "This is a mother this year telling me about that."

So does it drive Slocum crazy sometimes thinking about what could have been?

"It does," he said. "I couldn’t do anything about it at the time. We were just going out defenseless, but my whole life, I’ll never get over all that happening. We were, step by step, building and going right up the pole. We had everything going, and it was like you had the rug jerked out from underneath you."

The A&M football program isn’t on the fast lane to extended mediocrity. It’s just hit some bumps in a road that was really detoured three years ago when the NCAA road block went up.

But as time goes on and as more Robert Hammond-type players find their way to College Station, the effects of probation begin to fade. The talent pool fills up again.

And all indications are pointing to a banner recruiting season this year. Is there a sense of urgency on Slocum’s part to sign a quality class? You bet.

"We need to go out this year and have a really good recruiting class," Slocum said. "And right now, it appears we will. I’d probably say we’re off to a better start right now than we’ve been in several years in terms of recruiting. It’s one of those things where we have a number of kids who we have some connection with or likes us. We’re off to a good start, and part of it is they see there is opportunity to come in here and play. Our numbers are down right now.

"I know how important players are in this whole formula. We’re less experienced right now in the secondary than we’ve been at any time. One or two or three guys make a big difference."

Slocum hopes to sign 20 or more players in February who can make a difference. And who can distance the Aggies from the "NCAA thing" even more.

"You add 20 players to what we’ve got, then all of a sudden, we start getting back a little more balance in our personnel," Slocum said. "We’re in a little bit of a down turn right now, but there’s a reason for it. A dramatic reason."

One that makes Michael Jennings’ fumbled punt against BYU or Branndon Stewart’s interceptions against Southwestern Louisiana seem rather petty in comparison.

QUESTION: When the job of recruiting coordinator was eliminated by the NCAA a few years ago, how did that affect college football and your job in particular?

DIRECTOR OF FOOTBALL OPERATIONS TIM CASSIDY: People say it’s been eliminated, but it’s really not been eliminated. They’ve really kind of switched titles, moved some people around and moved some responsibilities around. Staffs do have recruiting coordinators. But the only people who can actually contact recruits by phone or by mail off campus is the nine coaches and the head football coach.

In the past, where I was actually the recruiting coordinator and responsible for writing letters and making phone contacts and evaluating film, those responsibilities have really been put back on the assistant coaches. As the associate AD for football operations, I can still oversee the evaluations and contacts and the actual overall recruiting effort. But when it comes directly to the phone contacts, they’re being directly made by the coaches, which they were doing in the past.

A lot of the burden of the calls have been put back on the coaches, but the guys who actually go out and do the recruiting need to build a relationship over the phone. It doesn’t do a lot of good for me to be calling all year long and then I don’t show up at the house. I don’t look anything like (offensive line coach) Mike Sherman.

Q: So you still must enjoy the contact you have with the recruits when they come into town for unofficial visits on game day and official visits during December and January?

CASSIDY: Yeah, and really coordinating that part of it. Right now, we’re sitting down and (Friday) was the first Friday our coaches could go off campus and evaluate high school seniors this year. You have one opportunity to look at a kid during the fall on campus, and we have nine dates that you can do it. So right now, looking at our home schedule, our away games and other events we have coming up, we’re trying to orchestrate the seven coaches and which seven coaches should go on the road. When you play a team like Iowa State and you’ve got travel involved, what do you do? It’s pretty much impossible for our coaches to use that Friday. So now, we have to look down the road and maybe use the Saturday before the Texas game for a playoff game or the Saturday after the Texas game for a playoff game.

Q: What’s the best part of your job as director of football operations?

CASSIDY: That’s a tough question because I enjoy it so much. I think my job involves almost every aspect of the players. The day we start looking at them, just charting the information that goes in our computer. I’ve actually seen guys that have been in our recruiting computers since they’ve been freshmen (in high school). I’ve actually seen them from when we’ve got them in the recruiting process, brought them to campus, signed them and seen them come through and graduate. Then I’ve seen them go on to the NFL. I’ve had a little bit of involvement in every part of their life.

One of the fun things is as a parent, on occasion by NCAA rules, we’re allowed to have the kids over for an occasional meal. My wife and I try to take advantage of that when it fits into our schedule, which is never enough. But to have guys come the house and just sit there and listen to them. And you realize that even guys like Eddie J. (Jasper), who are 6-5 and nearly 300 pounds, they’re just regular guys. It’s fun to have two boys who are around those guys who see the really neat guys that we have.

I’m extremely proud that I’ve been associated with Texas A&M since 1983, with the exception of two years, and have seen the progress we’ve made from 1983 to 1996 in trying to develop not only the best football players we can but develop the best person we can. And we’ve made tremendous strides in that area, and it’s most definitely a reflection of our head football coach.

We’re looking for three things: No. 1, we’re looking for a good, good person who’s going to come here and do the right things.

No. 2, we’re looking for a guy who has a desire to get a degree. And No. 3, we want a guy who wants to come here and wants to be a great football player. Sometimes, you can get those things reversed.

Our football team is not built on one player, on one season, or on one win or three losses. It’s a foundation, and R.C. has got a big picture.

He’s been here eight years as a head coach, and I see bigger and better things happening for us. Even though right now we’re struggling a little bit, I see the true character of this team.

Q: How has recruiting changed over the years? Is it as much a personality evaluation as an evaluation of talent?

CASSIDY: No question. We’re making an investment in a guy. You can go sign a great player, and he helps you his freshman year then flunks out of school. Or he comes in here and gets in trouble with the law and you have to kick him off your team. You look at a team like Penn State, they may sign 25 guys, and they nearly have all 25 there the fifth year.

We want to get to the position where we do a better job of evaluating guys as a person, a student and an athlete so we have them in our program for five years.

We’re in a situation where we have 11 seniors, and we’re really a young football team. Next year’s group is going to be the same way. Some of that is a reflection on that we have missed on some guys. And overseeing recruiting, I have to take ultimate responsibility for it. We missed on some guys and we released some guys on our football team. That’s a huge emphasis for us. Coach Slocum has put that challenge on our coaches. We want guys who not only will represent us on the field but represent us off the field and represent nearly 200,000 former students. That’s not just the company line, that’s something he’s really working for.

Q: Can you give a recruiting update and how the positions will break down during recruiting?

CASSIDY: Recruiting, right now, I feel very good about it. And that may sound strange to say when you’re 1-3. There’s a number of natural connections we have going into recruiting.

No. 1, our coaches did a really great job in the spring of evaluating players. And our football camp, which I preached over and over, has really helped us over the years.

We’re going to take 20-plus scholarships. And they will probably be some room for some guys at mid-term, if there are players we feel like can help us.

The most obvious position is the defensive line, and I don’t think there is any question about that.

We’re probably looking at signing two quarterbacks. We only have three scholarship quarterbacks.

At running back, every year you’d like to sign one or two running backs. You don’t know that in two years if will you lose one or two guys to the NFL draft.

In the offensive line, I’m really excited about the way the offensive line is coming around. That has been an area where we have felt like we have not done a great job of picking players, whether it’s injuries, academics or we just plain missed evaluating guys. We have not been very strong (in recruiting those players). In the last two years, the group of players we have signed have been really talented. This year, you’d like to go out and sign three or four offensive linemen with the hopes of we can start getting in the position where we can redshirt them.

At tight end, we’re pretty deep at that position. But those are guys who can help you in a lot of different ways. You’d like to sign one tight end, and it would just be a great one. Tight ends help you because they’re on kickoff coverage and kickoff return, and in some situations, we go to three tight ends.

With wide receivers, I would think we need two to three wide receivers. For the first time in a while, I think we’ll be quite attractive to wide receivers.

Defensively, we can’t get enough. We’re not going to put a number on defensive linemen, because we need them so badly. This is the year that there can’t be a kid out there saying, ‘I don’t know if I can go in there and play for them.’ This is the year where we can actually promise a guy that he can actually come in and play as a true freshman.

Immediately, everyone wants to go the junior college route. But it’s not necessary. Sam Adams played as a true freshman. Brandon Mitchell played as a true freshman, so guys can come in and play as true freshmen. I’m not saying we won’t recruit junior college players, but with the demands of academics, we’re looking at bringing in young, talented players into the program that you’re going to have for three or four years.

At defensive back, I think there is still a need for those. Delvin Wright had shoulder surgery, and it looks like Jeff Wilson probably will redshirt. We’ll be losing Donovan Greer. And again, defensive backs play a number of roles on your team, so you need a bunch of those guys.

At kicker, Kyle has done a good job, and we have two promising freshman walk-on kickers; our deep snapper is back; our punter is back; our back-up punter is back.

Linebackers is a position where we’ll take two or three, maybe even one more than that.

Q: Last year, it was the second or third time that you had many of your recruits come in for officials visits on one big weekend in late January. Will that philosophy change this year to where the visits are more spread out?

CASSIDY: The way school falls has really helped us, the fact that school starts on Jan. 13 as opposed to starting on the 20th. It’s opened up another weekend, so we’re going to spread it out. We’ve gotten a lot of publicity for (the one big weekend), but it’s not really been a planned thing. It’s not a coordinator’s dream to have 35 or 40 guys here on one weekend. And it doesn’t do the kids justice, either. We’d be better served to try and spread it out.

We’re going to look at a December weekend because there are a lot of kids who are starting to commit a little bit earlier. There is a stronger emphasis on that, not only from the colleges, but a lot of kids are getting fed up with the hype. It’s not so much they’re getting a phone call every day from the college coaches. But now they’re getting radio shows calling them, the recruiting services, and some people who are disguising themselves as recruiting services, but are just fans trying to figure out which way a guy is leaning.

Some of these kids have a strong feeling one way or the other about a school, and they want to take one or two trips. But you’ll see more and more kids committing a little bit earlier.

Q: Has the slow start this year had an effect on recruits so far?

CASSIDY: No, because these kids have seen us win a lot of football games over the years. When you just sit down and look at just the home record... My oldest son wanted to leave the Colorado game early because he was on academic suspension with his dad last year and didn’t make the Texas game. And my wife wouldn’t let him leave (the Colorado game). She said, ‘Why do you want to leave?’ And he said, ‘Mom, I’ve never seen A&M lose at home.’ And he’s 11 years old.

It would be quite presumptuous and far too dramatic to already borrow the legendary label of former sportswriter Grantland Rice to describe Texas A&M's four featured running backs. Sirr Parker, D'Andre Hardeman, Eric Bernard and Dante Hall are outstanding prospects, but all are a bit too young and unseasoned to be tabbed "The Four Horsemen."

But based on their youth, productivity and potential, a paraphrase may be appropriate. Call them "The Four Colts of College Station," and watch as they continue to develop and trample opposing defenses with a mixture of power, speed, finesse and elusiveness.

This foursome is comprised of three sophomores (Parker, Hardeman and Bernard) and a freshman (Hall). Because of their age and inexperience, each player is certainly still prone to youthful mistakes and problems. On the other hand, this talented group of workhorses/race horses appears to give the Aggies a firm foundation for a possible run toward a future triple crown — South Division title, Big 12 championship and national title.

"We've been blessed with those guys, to say the least," said Texas A&M running backs coach Ken Rucker. "Individually, those guys are very talented. Collectively, they, along with Marc Broyles and Michael Williams, bring a lot of exciting possibilities to the table. It's a great situation for us."

Indeed, it may be the best situation at running back for A&M since Greg Hill, Rodney Thomas and a young Leeland McElroy shared the spotlight in the Aggies' backfield. All three of those players are now in the NFL after spectacular careers at Texas A&M.

It's far too early to judge the pro potential of the Aggies' new running back group. And for the most part, the national spotlight has not yet discovered them. In fact, Sports Illustrated recently ran a story on the super sophomore running backs in the country. A&M’s group was not mentioned.

But their college potential is already being discussed with high regard, and these Aggies are certainly leaving a lasting impression on opposing coaches.

"With those young running backs, I think (A&M has) a chance to do something very special in the future," said BYU coach LaVell Edwards, whose Cougars escaped with a 41-37 victory over A&M in the season-opener. "I was extremely impressed with the talent and depth of those running backs.

"It didn't seem to matter who they put in or who they gave the ball to. All of them ran very hard and played extremely well. I think the future holds big things for them."

And Edwards didn't even see Hall, who first emerged as a constant big-play threat on special teams and out of the backfield against Southwestern Louisiana and North Texas. What Edwards did see, however, was enough to earn the longtime coaching veteran's respect and admiration.

In the heat of August and the altitude of Provo, Utah, Parker and Bernard both rushed for over 100 yards against the Cougars and all three sophomore sensations scored touchdowns against BYU.

"It's very difficult to defend that many talented backs," Edwards said. "You can only put one or two of them in the game at any one time and you can only give the ball to one of them at a time. But to be able to bring such talented players off the bench is a huge advantage for Texas A&M. It puts quite a strain on the defense."

Brigham Young was not the first team to experience the defensive troubles created by A&M's multi-back attack. The first team to be troubled by the Aggies' new-look running game was a school noted for its defensive prowess: Michigan.

REMEMBER THE ALAMO BOWL

Entering last year's Builders Square Alamo Bowl, the primary question being asked by reporters was: Will Leeland McElroy play? Then immediately after the game, the No. 1 question among media members seemed to be: Will McElroy stay?

During the game, however, many of the record-setting 64,597 fans inside San Antonio's Alamodome (most of them Aggies) appeared to be asking a much different question. Like: Leeland who?

With McElroy, the preseason Heisman Trophy candidate, out of the game due to an injury, the Aggies turned to the trio of Parker, Hardeman and Bernard. The freshmen responded by slashing and bashing through the Michigan defense for 137 combined rushing yards and one touchdown in a thrilling 22-20 win over the 14th-ranked Wolverines.

The game had been billed as a marquee matchup between the multi-talented McElroy and Michigan's All-Big 10 running back Tshimanga Biakabutuka, who had rushed for a 313 yards in the Wolverines' final regular-season win over Ohio State. But on this particular late December night, it was the A&M trio who stole the show, out-rushing Biakabutuka by 43 yards.

"The Alamo Bowl was a great experience for us all," said Bernard, who accounted for the Aggies' lone touchdown against Michigan on a 9-yard run. "It showed our fans and the rest of the country what we were capable of doing. It was a big step for us."

Earlier in the 1995 season — with McElroy again out of lineup — Hardeman and Parker had shown flashes of brilliance against SMU, combining for 218 rushing yards and 285 total yards. Hardeman rushed for 130 yards and one score against the Mustangs, while Parker added 88 on the ground and had an electrifying 56-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass.

Because of the level of the competition and the emergence of Bernard, however, it was the Michigan game that truly served as a coming out party for the young backs.

"I think the Alamo Bowl was a confidence builder for us," Parker said. "It showed that, even without Leeland McElroy, we weren't going to miss a beat the next year, which is now."

The day after the Alamo Bowl, McElroy announced that he would forego his senior season and enter the NFL draft, where he was selected as the 32nd overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals. That officially opened the door for Parker, Hardeman and Bernard to step into the spotlight.

It also closed a chapter in Texas A&M's offensive philosophy. The Aggies had long relied on the I-formation, which primarily highlights the tailback and uses the fullback almost solely as a blocker. But with McElroy's departure and so many talented runners returning, the Aggies switched to a split-back formation during the offseason, enabling two backs to be spotlighted at the same time.

The change in philosophies, as well as the opportunity to step out of McElroy's shadow, was welcomed by the young running backs. But while McElroy is now gone, Parker says he will not soon be forgotten.

"I learned — we all learned — from Leeland," Parker said. "More than anything, we learned that in order to be the man , you have to have a great work ethic, and he did have a great work ethic. So, we'll try to carry that on and work hard to build each other up every week and every year."

BIG DREAMS, NO BIG EGOS

Helping each other, rooting for each other and supporting each other have characterized the relationship among the foursome. The primary goal, they say, is for A&M to win championships during their college careers; not for them as individuals to seek personal awards.

Obviously, that's an extremely mature, unselfish attitude for a group whose average age is just 19 years old. Of course, that attitude has become somewhat of a tradition at A&M, particularly during the R.C. Slocum era.

"The thing I think that is impressive is that we have for a long time been able to recruit talented, unselfish people to play in our backfield," Slocum said. "We've had a long line of looking out there and having several guys who have running talent.

"(This current group) cares about each other. They have fun during games. It's a real gratifying, encouraging thing to me to be able to look out there and see young backs that display a lot of talent and know that they are only going to get better."

Slocum has been so impressed with the potential and productivity of Parker, Hardeman, Bernard and Hall that he recently moved redshirt freshman Michael Jennings — another talented running back from the 1995 recruiting class — to cornerback in an effort to get Jennings on the field. Jennings is a gifted athlete, but he might have never seen substantial playing time at running back.

Primarily, that's because Parker, Hardeman, Bernard and Hall have all made major strides toward improving in the short time since they arrived at A&M. And if they can somehow manage to match the accomplishments of their high school careers, A&M's reputation as a school for outstanding running backs may soon rival — or possibly surpass — that of USC's. It's certainly difficult to imagine a group with more impressive credentials coming out of high school.

Parker (6-0, 184) led the Los Angeles area in rushing and scoring as a senior at Locke High School and was a second-team All-USA pick by USA Today. Bernard (5-10, 190) earned all-state honors in Oklahoma, rushing for 2,167 yards and 28 touchdowns as a senior at Tulsa's Union High School. Hardeman (5-11, 225) was a Parade All-American as a senior at Galena Park's North Shore High School, rushing for 1,729 yards and 20 touchdowns. And Hall (5-9, 180) earned various All-America honors as a senior despite missing several games due to injuries.

As schoolboy superstars, they were hometown heroes and national blue-chips. Now, however, they are often viewed as interchangeable parts of a backfield with more depth than the Grand Canyon.

The "share-the-ball and divide-the-glory" role would seem to make for a difficult adjustment and a serve as a blow to the ego of each individual. But that's definitely not the case in this situation, Hardeman says.

"We were all the key people for our high school teams, but you have to realize that things change when you get to this level," Hardeman said. "There's a lot of talent here, and we all know that whoever is in the game at a given time will get the job done.

"We all want to compete and run the ball, but we also want what's best for the team. That's why we're all so close and we all root for each other. There's no ego problems here, and I definitely have no regrets about coming here. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it the exact same way and sign with Texas A&M."

Hall, who signed with the Aggies a year after the other three did, admits he was a bit leery about coming to a school with so much young talent in the backfield. At another school, he might have been the featured back already. But at A&M, he has simply become a part of the featured group.

Nevertheless, Hall says he is confident that he made the right decision.

"I knew all about those guys, and I was hesitant at first," Hall said. "But then I got to thinking about it, and I realized that if I was really going to get better, I had to compete against the best running backs daily. That's the situation we've got here. We all push each other and make each other better every day."

GUARANTEED FRESHNESS

The Aggies' opponent this week, Iowa State, is located 1,082 miles from the Texas A&M campus. Of course, the Cyclones and Aggies may even be farther apart when it comes to their running back philosophies this year.

Take, for example, the games the two teams played on Sept. 21.

Utilizing the quartet of Parker, Hardeman, Bernard and Hall, the Aggies rushed for 312 yards against North Texas. Parker led the way with 18 carries for 116 yards and one touchdown, followed by Bernard with 13 carries for 97 yards and a score and Hall with 93 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. Hardeman rushed for just 10 yards on four carries, but he added two rushing touchdowns.

On that same day, Iowa State beat Northern Iowa as the Cyclones' Heisman Trophy candidate, Troy Davis, rushed for 241 yards and four touchdowns on a school-record 53 carries.

No offense to Davis or the Cyclones, but Rucker says he likes his running backs to be much like his morning coffee — fresh.

"There are a lot of different offensive philosophies out there, and I know that some backs seem to get better throughout a game as the carry the ball more and more," Rucker said. "But to me, there's no substitute for fresh legs. If we can send a rested running back into the game in the fourth quarter against a tired defense, that's a big advantage for us.

"Fortunately, we can do that with some very talented running backs. Every back likes to get his yards, but this group is truly team-oriented. They don't care who gets the credit as long as the job gets done. And they all offer something a little different. They complement each other well."

They compliment each other, as well. Parker raves about the talents of Hall, who he has nicknamed "Pup" because of his first-year status. Hall admires the bullish style of Hardeman, while Bernard praises Parker's elusiveness and Hardeman commends Bernard's slashing ability. Meanwhile, they all rave about the A&M offensive line.

The foursome truly forms a harmonious mix off the field and a balanced attack on each Saturday.

"It's the best of both worlds," Hardeman said. "I won't say we're the best group of running backs in the country, but we are the best of friends, and we can compete with any other running backs in the country. And the best part is that we're only going to get better."

That's a scary thought for opposing defenses and a bright reality for the Aggies.

The Four Colts of College Station are just beginning to leave their mark at A&M. By the time they're done with their college careers, the Aggies will likely have taken plenty of triumphant rides on their backs.