Jamelle Eugene had some troubling news for coach Tom O’Brien.

After two seasons with N.C. State, and little playing time to show, the then redshirt sophomore wanted to ensure that his new head coach would give him a fair opportunity to earn time at tailback. Stealing minutes would be a tall task for Eugene, as he would have to dethrone two former high school All-Americans who had each rushed for more than 1,000 yards in their respective careers with the Wolfpack. But if he wasnít given a fair shot to perform on game days, Eugene made it clear to his coach that he would look to move on.

“He’s a young man who about this time last year came to me and was talking about transferring,î” O’Brien said at the Triangle Pigskin Preview luncheon in July. “He didn’t think he was going to have an opportunity to be the tailback. He was looking at Toney Baker and Andre Brown. I said, ‘Jamelle, just be patient.’ It’s tough to be patient as a 19, 20-year old kid wanting to be on the football field.”

It was no surprise to Eugene that the competition would be stiff at running back. Before the Naples, Fla. native committed to then-coach Chuck Amato, he knew the Pack already boasted a plethora of running backs, and had just landed a pair of top-10 backs in Baker and Brown. Still, Eugene believed he had a chance to be the man in Raleigh.

“I knew there were three great running backs here already. I knew there were two All-Americans coming in along with me,” Eugene said. “It’s just that in life you don’t want anything given to you, you want to have to earn things. That’s the way I was brought up and that was the way it had to be.”

But things didn’t go as Eugene had envisioned in Raleigh. Though he hoped to contribute immediately, coaches chose to redshirt Eugene his freshman season while Baker and Brown emerged as the team’s feature backs. As a redshirt freshman, Eugene expected to be thrown into a three-man rotation, yet carried the ball only 16 times on the season as the discouragement mounted.

“I didn’t really get a chance to play,” Eugene said. “It’s real discouraging, especially as a competitor, you want to play and compete and youíre practicing hard and then you don’t get the chance to get in the game. But I prayed about it and God got me through to this point.”

Eugene took his coach’s advice and patiently waited for his turn, trying to distinguish himself on the practice field in hopes that the opportunity to showcase his talent on Saturdays would eventually arrive.

“I felt like there were things I was doing in practice that I was doing right and I felt that I was at the same level [as the other backs],” Eugene said. “I felt like it wasnít a matter of them being that much better than me, but me just getting my opportunity to shine, and I got my chance.”

Eugene’s chance to shine, however, came at a great price for the team. His playing time immediately increased as Baker’s season ended abruptly with a knee injury sustained in the home opener against Central Florida. On Oct. 6, Brown, the starter in Baker’s absence, suffered a fractured foot that would sideline him for four games, just enough time to let Eugene prove he could handle the starting job alone.

“He did a very good job,” Brown said of Eugene. “He carried the whole load and he performed well. He just kept running the rock and he produced game after game.”

In his six games as the starting back, Eugene exploded for three 100-yard games and six touchdowns, including a heroic 159-yard, three touchdown performance in the 31-27 win over rival North Carolina. He also showed an ability to catch the ball, as well as return kicks, averaging 114 all-purpose yards in the last seven games of the season. With little time spent on the sidelines, Eugene earned the moniker of “The Energizer Bunny” from OíBrien for his ability to keep going play after play. His productivity earned Eugene the team’s Governor’s Award for the most valuable performer, as well as a firm grip on the starting job this season.

“He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder at all,” O’Brien said at ACC Media Day. “He did a tremendous job the last six games of the year. He’s done well in spring practice; he was the only healthy tailback in spring practice for a while. He’s proven that he can be a ball carrier, he’s proven that he can pass protect, heís proven that he can catch the football.”

Though Eugene showed his ability to carry the load alone last season, OíBrien hopes he will have more help this fall. Brown, who refractured his foot in the Spring, will be ready to go for the opener at South Carolina. Baker, who earlier claimed he was between 90 and 100 percent healthy, has gone through another surgery to clean out his knee. And though he will likely return this season, how quickly he will be ready remains unknown.

“I have a chip on my shoulder because the whole ACC missed me last year,” Baker said. “And I really just want to get back out there and just run. Itís not really to prove anything, everybody knows what I can do. I know what I can do, I’m just eager to get out there.”

According to Baker, the trio would offer a unique tandem in the backfield if fully healthy. Baker sees himself as the “between the tackles” power runner, while Eugene is the ìellusiveî scat back who makes defenders miss. Brown provides a solid balance, Baker said, though he may be more ellusive than powerful.

The questions confronting the backfield this season will be when and if Brown and Baker return to full strength, as well as if the offensive line can provide the necessary push to spark the running attack. Ideally, the trio of backs will take the Pack from 11th in the ACC in rushing offense last season (89.2 yards per game) to among the ACC’s elite.

“I just see it as a rotation where we’re fresh and going after it, plugging away with the offensive line,” Eugene said. “With fresh legs in the game, weíre going to wear teams down.”

And for Eugene, the goal is not keep his starting job. His goal is not to rush for 1,500 yards or to emerge as one of the league’s top backs. Instead, his goal is to do what he did in four of his six starts last seasonówin.

“My personal goal is to win,” Eugene said. “That’s personal and team — to win. Whatever it takes to win. If I need a yard to win the game, that’s all I need.”