PHOTO COURTESY THE DAILY CALIFORNIAN Cal's Adimchinobe Echemandu breaks through the UCLA line last weekend in Cal's loss to the Bruins. The senior enters tomorrow's game vs. UA second in the Pac-10 in rushing.

While many Wildcat fans may think they have had a rough couple of years watching their football team, those struggles can't compare to the last two years California senior running back Adimchinobe Echemandu has endured.

Echemandu has sat out each of the last two seasons, trying to rehabilitate from a torn ACL and torn lateral meniscus, along with dealing with academic problems.

"He has had an upand-down career and he has kind of came out of nowhere," said interim UA head coach Mike Hankwitz.

Echemandu has maneuvered around all of those obstacles to become one of the Pacific 10 Conference's top running backs. He is currently second in the conference in rushing yards behind Oregon State's Steven Jackson.

In Spring 2002, Echemandu was ready to fight for the starting tailback position for the Golden Bears, but suffered a severe knee injury during spring practice that cost him his entire junior year.

To make matters even more challenging for the Hawthorn, Calif. native, he was forced to sit out the Bears' 2001 campaign due to academic ineligibility.

Through Cal's first eight games, Echemandu has rushed for an impressive 5.1 yards per carry, running for 680 yards on 134 carries with five touchdowns. He is on pace to pass the 1,000-yard mark by season's end.

"He is definitely one of the better backs we have seen," Arizona senior linebacker Matt Molina said. "He's got great speed and strength. It should be a challenge for us."

"I've been impressed with his speed and how he catches the ball," Hankwitz said. "(If) they get him outside, he's a dangerous guy."

Though he was held to a season-low 42 yards at UCLA last week, Echemandu picked up 147 and 146 yards against Southern California and Oregon State, respectively.

Most impressive is that Echemandu became the first running back in 17 contests to go over the 100-yard mark against Southern Cal's defense. He propelled the Bears to a 34-31 overtime victory over the then-No. 3 Trojans.

For Arizona to get its fifth straight win at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif., the Wildcats' defense will have to be successful at containing Echemandu.

"You always want to stop the running game," Molina said. "We want to take one aspect (of California's offense) away."

"Anytime you can make a team one-dimensional, you have an advantage," Hankwitz added.