Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe prides himself on the fact that he's only about a half-inch shorter than Northwestern's Tyrell Sutton.

Evidently the two have measured themselves back-to-back because Hoban product Sutton is listed as 5-foot-9 and Wolfe at 5-foot-7. But in the world of college football, Wolfe stands just as tall as Sutton, who made a splash last season as a true freshman.

Coming off a 1,580-yard season in 2005, Wolfe is the nation's leading returning rusher in NCAA Division I-A. He gashed Michigan for 148 yards on 17 carries and a 76-yard TD in the Huskies' opener a year ago. He outrushed the Wolverines' Mike Hart 148-117 and Sutton 245-214. In the Mid-American Conference championship game, Wolfe pounded Akron for 270 yards on 42 carries in a 31-30 loss.

Now the task of stopping him falls to top-ranked Ohio State, which lost nine starters from a defense that was the country's stingiest against the run. Wolfe, a senior who wears No. 1, could dash the Buckeyes' national title hopes Saturday at 3:30 p.m. before a sellout crowd at Ohio Stadium.

Huskies coach Joe Novak said he was crazy not to realize what he had in Wolfe at the start of the 2004 season. Wolfe had been around for two years, sitting out one as a redshirt and the second when he didn't meet academic requirements. But Novak looked at Wolfe's short, now-172 pound frame and figured his body wouldn't survive more than 10 to 12 carries a week.

Eight times in the past two seasons, Wolfe carried 30 or more times in a game. Against Eastern Michigan in 2004, he ripped off 325 yards on 43 attempts. In two years, Wolfe has totalled 3,236 yards, averaged 25 carries a game and 6.5 yards per rush. And he played all of last year with a partially dislocated right shoulder that required surgery in January.

``He does things I'd like to take credit for, but it's not coaching,'' said Novak, a Mentor High School graduate who began his career at Warren Western Reserve High School. ``He's got a great feel for the game, he's got great vision. I've been around Anthony Thompson at Indiana, I've been around good backs. Garrett is not the biggest, but he's extremely instinctive.

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