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http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2010/09/vikings_cory_mccaffrey_lives_o.html

Watching how naturally Cory McCaffrey bounces off tackles and explodes out of the backfield during Portland State practice, it's hard to imagine him as anything other than a running back.

But for the last two years McCaffrey, a junior, gave up the position that earned him a spot in the Oregon high school record books to play receiver in Portland State's running back-free run and shoot.

Considering that, it's easy to imagine his excitement when he heard new head coach Nigel Burton would be installing the run-heavy pistol offense.

"When I got the call to come back to running back, I was pretty ecstatic," McCaffrey said. "The first thing I did was tell my family and friends I'm back in the backfield, and everyone was like, 'Good, it's about time.'"

There aren't a lot of similarities between Burton and his predecessor, Jerry Glanville, but when asked about McCaffrey, there's no mistaking that Burton sounds a lot like Glanville.

"He's different," Burton said.

During his three years at Portland State, Glanville used that exact description to describe his most beloved players -- the zany, maybe slightly over-the-top guys who lived and breathed football 24 hours a day.

There's nothing particularly zany or over-the-top about McCaffrey, but the last part of the description fits him to a T.

"The guy is in love with the game," Bob Macauley, McCaffrey's high school coach, said.

"There's just this joy about running with the football with him and you can see it in him."

That passion helped McCaffrey in becoming the most prolific runner in Oregon high school history during his time at Sisters High School, but he was stifled when he moved to wide receiver during his first two seasons as a Viking.

Adding to the frustration, Glanville decided to play McCaffrey as a freshman, passing up a chance to let the 5-foot-9, 180-pound runner add some muscle and adjust to his new position. McCaffrey ended up playing in five games and catching two passes.

"The choice wasn't really up to me," he said. "It was kind of a bad situation, but that's college football. There's always the what ifs, the should have, would have, could have, but that's how it is. I'm over it and living in the now."

Despite two years of lifting weights and relentlessly working out, McCaffrey doesn't look physically imposing. Don't be deceived, Macauley said.

"He's kind of like Clark Kent (and) Superman," he said. "You meet him out of uniform and you think this is one of the nicest, quietest kids you'll ever meet, and then you put a uniform on him and all of a sudden this guy is driven."

Macauley remembered a hot early August day when he saw McCaffrey running in the desert around Sisters. McCaffrey had no idea his coach was driving by. He just kept running to the beat of his iPod in the 90-degree heat doing all he could to make himself the best.

"That's what he does every day when people aren't looking," Macauley said. "He's not advertising what he's doing, but he's the kind of guy that Portland State players are going to gravitate to because they all want to achieve at a high level."

From spring practice throughout preseason camp, McCaffrey has been one of the most consistent and impressive players on the Vikings squad, earning the starting gig at running back and the consensus vote for player to watch.

"A lot of people are going to be surprised by him," junior quarterback Connor Kavanaugh said.

"I love the kid," offensive coordinator Bruce Barnum said.

Barnum has even installed some of McCaffrey's favorite plays from high school. The two agreed that what he learned as a receiver will help him in the backfield.

"Honestly, the receiving gig is going to be a bonus for him now," Barnum said.

"I think it was really useful because something you get as a receiver is you learn to read defenses and before that I had no clue, I would just run anywhere I saw green," McCaffrey added.

The Vikings are hoping McCaffrey sees lots of green this season. If they do, you can be sure McCaffrey will do his best to find it.