The prime Canidate:

Arizona Daily Wildcat Sophomore Trung Canidate blows by two defenders during practice last week. Canidate will start tomorrow night against Oregon.

Callen grew through his freshman season, busting out against UCLA when he ran for 116 yards in 22 carries and scored a touchdown. This was presumably the season that Leon Callen would emerge as one of the premier rushers in the Pacific 10 Conference.

But during spring practice, Callen tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, requiring it to be surgically repaired. Callen underwent surgery on April 17 forcing him to redshirt the 1997 season.

By the time spring practice ended however, there was a new face on the running back scene. Trung Canidate, a player best known for his punt block and subsequent touchdown against Washington State last year, stepped forward from relative obscurity, to begin the 1997 season as Arizona's number one running back on the depth chart.

Canidate, a sophomore from Phoenix, was a jack-of-all-trades in 1996 used mainly on special teams where he gained notoriety with his play against the Cougars. The blocked punt has been the highlight of his UA career thus far, but that looks to change as he enters Thursday's game against Oregon.

When asked how he would prepare to face Canidate on Thursday night in Eugene, Oregon coach Mike Bellotti responded, "We've seen him (Canidate) on tape out of high school. We know he's very fast. We try to simulate that with our scout team, but we have to be as concerned with our own ability to play solid, basic defense."

While most coaches and recruiters have praised his speed, one knock on Canidate has been his size (6-foot-0, 173). Tomey, though, seemed largely unconcerned.

"He is a slashing runner who is very physical and very fast," Tomey said. "He makes people miss and runs through tackles. His physical nature belies his size."

Behind Canidate on the depth chart is senior running back Kevin Schmidtke (5-9, 198). Schmidtke finished last season with a 4.5 yards-per-carry average although he only carried the ball 55 times.

Schmidtke said he hopes to carry more of the offensive load this season, returning to the form which made him the Wildcats' second leading rusher in 1995.

The third spot in Arizona's backfield is held by junior college transfer Jay Hinton, who has been impressive at times, including a strong showing in Arizona's scrimmage on August 22. Clocked at 4.27 in the 40 yard dash, Hinton has the speed and the size (6-0, 202) to make an impact for the Wildcats.

The final tailback slot is filled by true freshman William Blocker, a top recruit out of San Bernardino, Calif. His 5-11, 210 pound frame gives the UA coaching staff a good sized back up who could eventually work his way into the rotation.