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How a Canadian track star became one of college football's best running backs

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Chuba Hubbard shuns the label. After 103 carries and 642 yards in just four games, the label no longer really applies anyway. But in Hubbard's mind, it has never defined him.

The label - a track star playing football - is flat-out wrong.

"Ever since I played football, I've just kind of been known as a track guy," Hubbard said. "Everyone just kind of pictures me as a guy who puts on a jet sweep or something like that."

That perception might have once been justified. Before Hubbard arrived at Oklahoma State, his accolades as a three-time Canadian age-group champion in the 100m dash outweighed his football accomplishments. Track is Hubbard's second love; he focuses solely on the gridiron these days, but he accepted an invitation to join the school's track and field team as a freshman.

And by now, anyone who clings to that old label hasn't watched Hubbard play. The 20-year-old sophomore has emerged as one of the nation's best running backs and the Cowboys' bell cow, shouldering the heaviest workload in college football on his 6-foot-1, 210-pound frame.

Hubbard toted the football 26 times in the season opener against Oregon State. He followed it up with 32 carries at Tulsa and 37 at Texas. After four weeks, Hubbard leads all FBS backs in carries, yards, and rushing touchdowns. Adding 30 pounds over two-plus years, he's transformed himself from an elite sprinter into a punishing back with speed.

FBS rushing leaders after Week 4

Player School Carries Yards TD
Chuba Hubbard Oklahoma State 103 642 9
Marvin Kinsey Jr. Colorado State 68 556 3
Kylin Hill Mississippi State 91 551 5
Cam Akers Florida State 98 499 6
J.K. Dobbins Ohio State 68 477 5

"I felt like I kind of shaped my body into the back that I wanted to be, and obviously I still have a lot of work to do, but I always had a chip on my shoulder," Hubbard said. "I always loved contact. Everyone just didn't get to see it."

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Everyone didn't get to see it because Hubbard grew up beyond the purview of major football in Sherwood Park, Alberta. The Edmonton suburb is not known for producing college football players, let alone NFL prospects. NCAA head coaches don't make the trip to central Alberta without good reason.

From 2009-19, five players from Alberta signed with FBS colleges out of high school, according to Rivals.com's database. Hubbard was the lone four-star recruit. Other players from the province have made it to FBS schools though the junior-college route, but the numbers are still low. (Another Alberta product, Amen Ogbongbemiga, starts at linebacker for Oklahoma State.)

For a fleeting moment, Hubbard wanted to be a boxer. He was 9 years old, liked Muhammad Ali, and believed his lanky body could fit the sport if he added some muscle.

His mother, Candace Hubbard, would not hear it. Youth coaches, desperate to see the fastest child they knew run the football, worked to convince him that boxing wasn't in his best interest.

"The coach said to him, 'Well, Chuba, you know you get punched in the face when you're a boxer, nonstop,'" Candace said.

Hubbard, who'd been running track since the age of 6, took up football instead, showcasing his speed in peewee and bantam leagues.

When he reached high school, the coaches at Bev Facey Community High School knew Hubbard was a rare talent. In his first scrimmage, he took a toss left and exploded down the sideline past defenders for a touchdown, leaving his teammates with jaws agape.

Source: Hudl.com

"Chuba came in with more talent than any Grade 10 I've ever seen, and he did not flaunt it from the beginning," said Hal Souster, who coached Bev Facey's running backs that season while also serving as athletic director.

Simply too good for the competition, Hubbard ran for 6,880 yards over three high school seasons, averaging 15 yards per touch. His toughness was never in question; he once ran for 133 yards in a game in which he fractured his fibula. Speed fueled his success, but so too did his desire to take on defenders.

"He's putting his foot in the dirt and making great cuts. He's accelerating and running away from you," Souster said. "But I'll tell you what, if he wants to step in and drop a shoulder and blow you up, he's not above doing that."

On the track, Hubbard continued to thrive as a sprinter in national and international competitions. In 2015, just after his 16th birthday, he competed in the IAAF world youth championships in Colombia, clocking 10.55 seconds in his semifinal race and placing fifth in the final at 10.60.

His skill set drew notice in spite of his geographical disadvantage. Colorado State was the first school to make an offer, but others soon followed - 24 major colleges in total. Though the interest was a lot to handle, Hubbard and his family eventually developed an affinity for Oklahoma State and its running backs coach at the time, Marcus Arroyo.

On Mother's Day in 2016, Hubbard surprised Candace by telling her he'd committed to Oklahoma State. The baby of the family, Hubbard chose a school 1,700 miles from home - but one with a reputation for an explosive offense.

"I was so happy for him and proud that he could make that decision and it was a good one," she said.

With his decision made, the real work began.

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Hubbard can't say he was happy about it at the time, but redshirting his first season in 2017 set the wheels in motion for this year's breakout.

Despite his desire to be a physical back, he arrived in Stillwater weighing 180 pounds. He was still lanky, and he'd never experienced anything like the weight-room program the Cowboys had in store for him.

Candace remembers FaceTiming with her son during his first preseason camp, watching him struggle to adjust to Big 12 conditioning.

"He was looking rough," she said. "I was concerned."

Hubbard traveled to all but one game in 2017, a rare privilege for a redshirting player. Perhaps making the travel squad indicated how close he was to cracking the lineup - or how important the Cowboys knew he'd be to their future.

"I needed to put on weight and I needed to mature and just be a better athlete, be a better person," Hubbard said. "So that whole year off was really good for me and developed me as a football player."

His natural progression continued last season when he emerged as the backup to three-year starter Justice Hill. When Hill went down with an injury late in the campaign, Hubbard took over and rushed for over 100 yards in three of the Cowboys' final four contests. That late-season production led ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit to label him a 2019 breakout candidate.

Not even Herbstreit could have projected the way Hubbard's numbers - and his profile - have exploded in the season's first month.

His 26-carry, 221-yard, three-touchdown performance in the opener against Oregon State included one score on an option pitch and another from 53 yards out. On the first play of Oklahoma's 40-21 win over Tulsa, he exploded for a 75-yard score. Texas managed to keep Hubbard below 4 yards per carry (37 touches, 121 yards), but he still found the end zone twice.

The highlight-reel runs are incredible, but the workload might be more impressive. Hubbard's ability to bounce back from physical carries between the tackles has made him a rare talent. He's currently on pace to surpass 300 regular-season carries - a feat no running back has managed since 2016.

Not bad for a former track star.

"I play football for a reason," Hubbard said. "I like the contact."

Mark Cooper is theScore's NCAA writer. You can find him on Twitter @mark_cooperjr.

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