Hawaii running backs coach Wayne Moses had a good idea what he had to work with entering his first year on Norm Chow’s staff.

The 35-year coaching veteran was on the opposing sideline for UH’s 2013 season finale with Army as the Rainbow Warriors piled up 285 yards on the ground in their only win of the season.

Moses, who served as the slotbacks coach under Rich Ellerson at West Point, spent the game focused on his own guys, but heard his defense mentioning a certain running back over and over.

"Our defenders kept talking about the big fella," Moses said, refering to Hawaii’s Joey Iosefa. "They kept saying, ‘the big guy is back, the big guy is back.’ "

Army had no answer for Iosefa, who changed the dynamic of Hawaii’s offense last year after returning from a foot injury.

UH’s scoring average increased from 21.8 points per game to 38.5 with Iosefa, who totaled 588 rushing yards, healthy for the final four contests.

Saying he’s "all good" and "excited" to take part in a full training camp, Iosefa had that special number for a running back ready to go when asked about his individual goals for his senior season.

"I’m going for 2,000 yards," he said.

Moses, whose coaching stops include Cal, UCLA, Washington, USC and Stanford, has his own ideas for helping Iosefa get there.

On Thursday, he repeatedly stressed quickness over and over when asked about his goals to help improve UH’s running back corps.

"Right now, physically, we want to try to get a little quicker — get in and out of the hole a little quicker," Moses said. "If (Iosefa) can do that, that means he’s going to get tackled by one and a half guys as opposed to two and a half and three guys. So we’re working on getting out of the hole quicker and when they do, we want them to hit those shoulder pads."

Iosefa has remained at a solid 245 pounds, while other UH running backs, including sophomore Steven Lakalaka, have had to diet to improve on that quickness.

Lakalaka is listed at 215 pounds on the fall roster after weighing 240 last season.

"He really is emphasizing on quickness and that’s what running backs need," Lakalaka said. "I feel a lot better — lighter and more explosive — than I have even though I’m not satisfied myself. I feel like I have a lot of responsibility this year so I’ve taken it seriously this summer with my eating and being healthy and stuff."

The move from a pro-style to more of a spread offense shouldn’t change UH’s rushing attack, which averaged 47 attempts a game when Iosefa was healthy. There will be plenty of touches to go around as Lakalaka battles Diocemy Saint Juste as the lead backup to Iosefa, who says his job is still exactly the same.

"As a running back, I’m just focused on my style and doing everything, blocking, running, understanding everything," he said. "With Coach (Moses) getting us to be quicker in the hole, it’ll help you prevent getting gang tackled to not avoid, but limit getting hit so that I can stay 100 percent throughout the whole game."