Starting with the ground attack that the Buffs put up against Air Force on Sept. 14, there has been a constant increase in rushing yards per game ever since. Needless to say, especially in more recent weeks, it's been among a short list of things working consistently for the offense.

Friday night vs. USC, Colorado (3-4, 1-3 Pac-12) will look to keep the momentum going on the ground.

Colorado rushed for 105 yards vs. Air Force and against Arizona State, Colorado ran the ball for 138 yards.

That number increased to 159 vs. Arizona, continued to go up at Oregon when CU had 168 yards on the ground and finally, improved yet again last weekend at WSU, as the Buffs rushed for 179 yards.

The 179-yard performance by Alex Fontenot, Jaren Mangham and Laviska Shenault was Colorado's best since rushing for 243 yards in the season opener vs. CSU.

“We’ve gotten to the point where we’ve been able to run the football and that’s good," Mel Tucker said. "We wanted to do that. We’ve been running the ball efficiently and moving the ball in terms of drives and yardage. Our identity needs to be run the ball on our terms (and) be able to make explosive plays.”

All credit to the offensive line for leading that charge, but its been Fontenot who has been the architect of those numbers with the ball in his hands.

Since the Air Force game, CU has rushed for 589 yards, of which Fontenot owns 401, in other words, 68% of those yards gained.

Heading into the USC matchup, he comes off a season-best 9.5 yards per rush registered against Wazzu last week, while his 105 yards was the most he'd put up since the season opener, when he had 125.

Fontenot thus has been earning solid praise from his position coach, Darian Hagan.

“He understands fully exactly what we want at (RB)," Hagan said. "He knows the offense in and out, he knows what we expect of him and he’s doing a hell of a job of applying it on game day. He’s very attentive during the week and in meeting, does a good job of preparing himself and he’s a guy what when you call upon him, you know he’s going to deliver. You can just see him maturing week by week and getting better before our eyes.”

For the Buffaloes, emphasizing the run game seems a good way to help stimulate a passing attack that has been all but nonexistent in the past two weeks. Senior QB Steven Montez has thrown six picks and no TDs in the Buffs' last two games, so alleviating some pressure of his shoulders via the run game as he continues to try to find his groove could be a big help.

Fontenot and Mangham are proving to be an effective duo in the backfield, as well.

"I feel like things are starting to even out and everybody's getting set in their spot," Fontenot said. "We pretty much have a rotation now. (Things are) going pretty good."

"We understand that we can get a ball to Alex and to Deion and Mangham and get positive yards," Hagan continued. "We can still march on down the field and that’s something we take pride in — being able to come off the ball, hit some guys in the mouth, hit guys and give our (offense) a chance.”