According to his profile on page 73 of the football media guide, South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore won't turn 19 years old until October 29th.

ESPN's Desmond Howard doesn't believe it.

The College GameDay contributor was astonished the 18-year old was able to power his way through the stifling Alabama defense for 93 hard-earned yards the way he did in last Saturday's 35-21 victory over the Crimson Tide, an outcome that rocked the college football world.

"That freshman Marcus Lattimore, I need to see that kid's birth certificate," Howard exclaimed on GameDay's post-game wrap-up. "He ran like he's a man, like he was 21 years old. This kid was sensational. He had 93 yards on one of the top defenses in the SEC."

Alabama, of course, isn't the first SEC opponent to be overpowered by the Byrnes High product. A month earlier, Lattimore introduced himself to the SEC by pounding out 182 yards against Georgia in USC's 17-6 victory.

ESPN GameDay host Chris Fowler contended Lattimore "outplayed" defending Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, who had just 41 yards on 11 carries against the SEC defense. In fact, Lattimore outgained Ingram and Trent Richardson, both potential first round NFL Draft picks, by 29 yards (93-64).

Even the modest Lattimore admits he didn't envision knocking off the No. 1-ranked team in the country and outrushing the Heisman Trophy winner in just his fifth collegiate contest.

"I just came in and worked hard," Lattimore said. "Whenever I got my opportunity, I seized it. It's working out pretty good. But our goal is to make it to the SEC Championship. We'll keep working until we do it."

If any college football fan didn't know about Lattimore a week ago, they certainly do now. In fact, all they need to do is glance at the SEC rushing statistics.

After five games, Lattimore has totaled 459 yards on 107 carries, the third highest number of attempts in the SEC behind only Stevan Ridley of LSU (128) and Derrick Locke of Kentucky (108), who is doubtful for Saturday night's USC-UK clash in Lexington, Ky.

Lattimore needs 390 rushing yards over the final seven regular season games (55.7 ypg) - and that's not even factoring in the SEC Championship game or a bowl game - to set a new school freshman rushing record, a mark currently held by Thomas Dendy (848 yards) in 1982.

Even though USC hasn't even reached the halfway mark to the 2010 season, Lattimore is on track to become USC's first 1,000 yard rusher since Derek Watson in 2000.

In fact, if Lattimore maintains his weekly average of 91.8 yards per game through the final seven regular season games, he'll accumulate 1,102 yards by the time the Nov. 27 Clemson game is over, the most since Duce Staley (1,116) in 1996.

Lattimore's best attribute? His maturity, which far exceeds his age. As a result, he's quickly earned the respect of his teammates.

"Marcus is already considered one of the best around, there's no question about that," USC head coach Steve Spurrier said Tuesday. "He handles praise pretty well. He comes out to practice every day, doesn't say much. He's the kind of kid that all the players really love. But we'll let him earn his way as he goes through the year. Whatever accolades come to him, we'll let it take its course. But he's certainly a very good player and very good teammate. Guys love him."

Lattimore has always been willing to praise his teammates for their contributions to his success. Fullback/tight end Patrick DiMarco is one teammate singled out by Lattimore for his exemplary blocking.

"I think I congratulated him on every block on every run I had (against Alabama)," Lattimore said. "He's one of the biggest reasons for my success along with the O-Line. He can cut you down or he'll come up and hit any linebacker. He's very tough."

Lattimore has scored nine of the 20 touchdowns registered by the USC offense in 2010 (Stephon Gilmore had a Pick-6 for the other). He already has eight rushing touchdowns in five games, exceeding USC's individual season high for all of last season by two (6 by Brian Maddox).

Largely because of Lattimore, USC already has 11 rushing touchdowns in 2010, one fewer than all of last season, and is averaging 156.8 rushing yards per game (8th in SEC), an increase of 35.6 yards over last season. Moreover, USC has more rushing yards than passing yards in three of the first five games.

USC should be able to improve its conference ranking in rushing offense this week since Kentucky has struggled to stop the run all season as shown by their last place ranking in the SEC in rushing defense (190.3 ypg).

Spurrier has credited Lattimore for USC's remarkable improvement in red zone offense over a year ago. In five games, USC has scored 17 touchdowns in 20 red zone opportunities this season, most of them by running the football. That's something USC wasn't able to do in Spurrier's first five seasons as head coach.

"I smell the end zone whenever I get close," Lattimore said. "I just have to get in every time we get close."

Most of the talk surrounding the USC program in the last couple of days has been avoiding a letdown on the road against Kentucky Saturday night. Lattimore insisted that won't happen.

"We just have to focus," he said. "We have to have complete focus on that one school we're facing this week and that's Kentucky. We have to keep our poise. It's tough playing on the road, it really is.

"We just have to keep on pushing."

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