Don't sell Trindon Holliday short.

Although he is only 5-foot-5 and 165 pounds, the LSU running back and track star elevated himself forever in the hearts of LSU fans when he dashed 92 yards for a touchdown on a kickoff return early in the fourth quarter at Arkansas last season. The touchdown answered an 80-yard touchdown run by Razorbacks tailback Darren McFadden and gave the Tigers a 31-19 lead on the way to a 31-26 victory. He rushed 14 times on the season, usually on reverses, for 172 yards and a touchdown.

Former Tigers quarterback JaMarcus Russell said last season that Holliday was hard to pick up on pass routes because of his size.

"When he lines up in the backfield, I could see where he'd be hard to locate by the defenders,: said Tigers track coach Dennis Shaver.

Shaver appreciated Holliday's run against Arkansas as a track coach and Tigers football fan.

"It was like he was shot out of a cannon,": said the coach. "The guy's like a dart."

Partly because of an ankle sprain in spring football of 2006, Holliday had a forgettable track season, which included an average 11.01 time in the 100-meter dash at the SEC Championships.

"I was coming off an injury and didn't qualify for the 100 meters at the SEC's," said Holliday, a sophomore from Northeast High near Baton Rouge. "I wasn't able to get back to 100 per cent last track season. So I just told myself that if I made it through last football season at 100 per cent, I will come out and make a name for myself."

He did just that at the SEC Championships two weeks ago in Tuscaloosa, Ala., when he sat a school record of 10.08 in the 100 meters to win the first individual championship of his career. His time broke the school record of 10.09 set last June by All-American Xavier Carter, now a pro.

"Xavier called me the day after I did it," aid Holliday. "He was training in Tennessee. He said that's how it should be. Records are meant to be broken. He called me the night before and said I could do it."

Holliday will be trying to better that time this weekend at the NCAA Mideast Regionals in Columbia, Mo., that qualifies competitors for the NCAA Championships in June.

"I felt like I was under the radar last season in track,: said Holliday. "So I just had to get back to 100 per cent and just do it. I felt the same way in football."

Shaver always knew who Holliday was. He recruited him along with football coach Les Miles out of high school when he led the nation in the 60-meter dash in 2005 and won six individual state championships and j\helped his team win state titles in 2003 and 2005.

"I wasn't expecting a new school record at that track meet," said Shaver. "I thought by the end of the season, Trindon would have a legitimate shot at that and better. But he came on fast. He had a lot to prove. He didn't like what happened last year."

Holliday is shaped more like a cannonball than a typical sprinter. Carter, for example, was 6-foot-2 and 215 pounds.

Holliday also had a different training regimen going into the SEC meet. He had only a handful of races beforehand. He missed the indoor season because he was busy with spring football.

"I think I came on a little earlier than I thought,: said Holliday. "I've been working hard all season, so I just had to come out and see what I could do."

He feels he has better times left in him.

"I think it will be a little faster to win the NCAA's," said Holliday. "Maybe a 10.05 or 10.06. I think I can do it if I work real hard the next couple of weeks."

Holliday thinks he come out from beneath the radar in football this season. He worked at tailback, slot receiver amd kcik and punt returning in the spring. He didn't catch a pass last season and only returned one punt.

"I hope top see a lot more action that what I saw last season,: said Holliday. "I didn't get going until midway through the season. That's the plan: football and track for four years. It's not difficult at all.."

STAR RECRUIT HAS FOLKS UPSET: Reggie Bush went from USC to New Orleans and the :next" Reggie Bush is going from New Orleans to USC.

Joe McKnight may be a tick slower that Bush and doesn't strike many as USC's eighth Heisman Trophy winner. He is 6-foot, 190 pounds and was the No. I football recruit in Louisiana last season. Although he played college football at Arkansas and his sons played at Tulane, J.T. Curtis, coach at John Curtis in River Ridge, was supposed to deliver McKnight to LSU.

"For Joe to go to LSU, I'm the hero, but that wasn't what Joe wanted to do," said Curtis, who played at East Jefferson. "I wasn't disloyal to my state. I was loyal to my player." McKnight lived in the coach's home following Katrina.

"Some say I didn't have any state pride by not staying home," said McKnight. "Some say that I'll go out there (to USC) and sit on the bench for three years. Some say I was afraid to play in the SEC."

Louisiana has not taken McKnight leaving well. While performing in a Mardi Gras

parade this year, the Curtis band was jeered.

A member of the band came back and informed Curtis: "You're marching in the next one! They want to kill you and Joe."

The coach has been told he is "the most hated guy in the LSU community."

John Curtis Christian School has won 21 state football titles since 1975, including last year's 2A division crown.

It is also known as the school that let Joe go.

Could McKnight be that good?