SAN DIEGO >> Inspiration surrounds San Diego State running back Donnel Pumphrey on a daily basis. Challenges stare at him.

It all comes in the form of Marshall Faulk’s grace, Ronnie Hillman’s elusiveness, George Jones’ acceleration … all the Aztecs greats at the position who seemingly gaze down upon Pumphrey from the walls of the running backs’ meeting room.

"I wanted them to know the tradition of the running backs here, all the great ones we’ve had," said assistant coach Jeff Horton, who has arrayed posters on the room’s walls and repeatedly tells of their exploits.

A sign in a prominent open space poses the question of who will be next?

There is little doubt that, if he stays healthy, it will be Pumphrey.

He leads the Mountain West Conference in rushing and ranks third nationally in rushing touchdowns (11) and ninth in rushing yards per game (134.5).

"Since I’ve been here, I started learning more about the tradition," said Pumphrey, who has taken a running start at becoming a part of it.

Midway through his sophomore season, Pumphey has 1,559 career yards. He has an opportunity to be second only to Faulk in several categories by the time he leaves Montezuma Mesa. 

Already he is compared to Hillman, a Denver Broncos running back.

"In my opinion, he and Ronnie are very similar," SDSU coach Rocky Long told the media this week. "They can make a guy miss in a small area and once they get in the open, they’re both really fast. I think (Pumphrey) runs tougher between the tackles."

Horton said, "He has the uncanny ability to set up his cuts and make people miss. He’s not very big (5-feet-9, 170 pounds), so when he comes through that line behind our big linemen he’s hard to find and, then, the next thing you know, he’s out the door."

Pumphrey is, basically, the offense for the 3-3 Aztecs, who lost one of the league’s top receivers, Eizell Ruffin, to a broken collarbone and have quarterback Quinn Kaehler back on a limited basis from a shoulder joint sprain. 

It hardly mattered whether Kaehler, who was summoned for second-half emergency duty last week,  could raise his arm to throw since Pumphrey did most of the  heavy work with 246 yards on 20 carries for two touchdowns in a 24-14 victory at New Mexico.

UH and the rest of the Mountain West thought they had gotten a break in the offseason when the Aztecs’ Adam Muema, who ran for 163 yards against Hawaii last season, declared for the NFL Draft. But as the Rainbow Warriors know better than most, the Aztecs seem to have an endless supply of quality running backs.

In 10 of their past 12 meetings, an Aztecs back has run for more than 100 yards against UH. Small wonder, perhaps, that the Aztecs have won 11 of the last 13 games.

As for Pumphrey, he sees the vacant place on the wall in the running backs meeting room and says, "Oh, yeah, I  (plan) to eventually be up there."

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.