Armon Bailey had dibs on the No. 4 jersey at Sacramento State once Cam Skattebo relinquished it and transferred to Arizona State. Bailey wanted No. 4 because he wore No. 2 at Vanden High and believed he had become twice the player as a senior for the Hornets than he was with the Vikings.

Skattebo made good use of No. 4 in his two seasons at the only college to offer him a scholarship as a senior at Rio Linda High. He flashed his potential as a true freshman in 2021 by rumbling for 520 yards and six touchdowns Skattebo followed in 2022 with 1,373 yards and seven touchdowns.

His parting gift was being named the Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Year. Who knows if Skattebo would have remained with the Hornets had coach Troy Taylor not left for Stanford after claiming a third consecutive Big Sky championship and first perfect regular season (11-0) in school history.

No one who has followed Skattebo would dare question whether the senior made the right move. He ranks fifth in the country with 1,568 rushing yards after gaining 177 at Arizona on Nov. 30 and 177 last Saturday as Arizona State rolled past Iowa State 45-19 in the Big 12 Championship Game.

Arizona State received a first-round bye in the 12-team playoffs as the No. 4 seed and will face the No. 5 Texas-No. 12 Clemson winner in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 1. Skattebo believes he deserves a trip to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony on Dec. 14 before the playoff contest in Atlanta.

Skattebo even pulled off the Heisman pose after the first of his three touchdowns last Saturday. When asked about it after the game, he held nothing back. “Nobody respects the fact that I’m the best running back in the country,” he proclaimed. “Whatever NFL team takes me is going to get a gem.”

UC Davis has a gem of its own in running back Lan Larison, who could have entered the transfer portal last summer with several FBS teams interested in his services. Aggies linebacker Teddy Buchanan did just that by transferring to Cal and is tied for 17th in the county in tackles with 112.

This season was Cal’s first in the Atlantic Coast Conference and Buchanan was one of the first two Golden Bears to be first-team selections in the All-ACC voting. The other was cornerback Nohl Williams. Buchanan was just a second-team pick in All-Big Sky voting in his final year at UC Davis.

Buchanan made the move in hopes that playing against FBS-level talent would boost his NFL Draft stock. Playing at an FCS school lis likely the reason UC Davis wide receiver Keenan Doss was not drafted in 2018 after catching 233 passes for 2,833 yards and 16 touchdowns in his last two years.

The option of entering the portal before the 2018 season was not available to Doss, the 2017 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year, because it did not open until October of that year when he was already six games into his senior season. Doss played in eight NFL games in 2019 and five in 2023.

UC Davis has not had a player drafted since quarterback J.T. O’Sullivan in 2002. The only former Aggie currently in the NFL is punter Dan Whelan with the Green Bay Packers. Larison could have improved his chances by transferring, but UC Davis fans are certainly glad he decided to stay put.

Last Saturday’s 42-10 playoff win over Illinois State was yet another example of what Larison means to the Aggies. He had 17 of his 22 carries and 84 of his 105 rushing yards in the first half, when he scored three times. Larison also had three receptions for 84 yards, including a catch and run for 64. 

The Aggies would not be 11-2 and in South Dakota today for the FCS quarterfinals without the 2023 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year. None of the other seven playoff teams has asked a player to carry as heavy a rushing workload as UC Davis coach Tim Plough has with Larison.

Larison has carried the ball 277 times, 219 more than fellow senior Mateo Perez. Mercer is the only other playoff team with the difference between its top two players in carries being more than 100 (144). South Dakota’s Travis Theis has just four more carries (155) than teammate Charles Pierre, Jr. 

Add his 61 receptions and Larison has 338 offensive touches in 13 games. Christian McCaffrey led the NFL with 339 in 16 games for the 49ers in 2023, then added 78 in the postseason. Larison has also returned five kickoffs, forced and recovered a fumble on punt coverage, thrown seven passes and recovered four onside kicks.

Where would the Aggies be if Larison had taken his talents elsewhere? Certainly not South Dakota.