Professor

part 2

That's a sentiment Jackson readily acknowledges he did not experience under Martz's stewardship. As a rookie in 2004, with Faulk still a productive player, Jackson averaged only 9.6 touches per game. There were just three games in which Jackson got more than 10 carries.

"I can understand the loyalty to Marshall, [because] he's been a great player. But a lot of times, I was on the outside looking in, trying to get just a peek at what was going on," Jackson said. "Things are different now. I do feel like I'm out of Marshall's shadow and that this is more my offense now. I know I'm approaching this season a lot differently than I did my first two years. I feel more responsibility and I'm working harder to have the respect of my teammates, and making more of an effort to be a leader. This can be a breakout year for me in a lot of ways."

Provided, of course, the first-year staff doesn't break its promise to him.

Like any back, but especially a big, physical tailback, Jackson is convinced that he gets stronger the more carries he rings up, that his power erodes a defense late in the game. There's some evidence of that given that Jackson has averaged 5.3 yards per carry on his attempts that come after his 20th rush in a game. But he is also a fast starter, a back capable of making a big play early in the game.

In the five outings in which he logged 20 carries or more, Jackson averaged a gaudy 7.4 yards per attempt on his first five attempts. In four of those games, Jackson's longest run came in the opening quarter. In two contests, his longest jaunt was on his first carry. He ran for 28 yards on his first attempt against Philadelphia in a 148-yard performance on Dec. 27, 2004. In a 97-yard game against New Orleans on Oct. 23, 2005, Jackson bolted for 43 yards the first time he touched the ball. Against Houston last Nov. 27, in a game in which he finished with 110 yards, he gained 18 yards on his first carry and then 19 on just his second carry of the second half.

"He's the kind of back who can surprise you with his quickness, right out of the box," said Indianapolis free safety Bob Sanders. "You're thinking, 'power guy,' but then he gets a burst and he's on top of you faster than you thought he could be. If you're not used to him, yeah, he can get on you early and make some big plays. He's strong enough to rip your arms out of the socket but he's faster than you think, too."

Against the Colts last season, in a Monday night game on Oct. 17, Jackson flashed both elements, his raw power and his deceptive speed, carrying nine times for 55 yards in the first quarter, with a touchdown run of 21 yards. But as too often happened to him during his first two seasons, Jackson suddenly became an afterthought, as St. Louis fell behind and he got only eight carries in the final three quarters.

Counting on a more consistent workload in 2006, instead of getting the ball just in spurts, Jackson has spent additional time on conditioning in the offseason. Faulk likely will be back in 2006 but, in his 13th season and coming off a 2005 campaign that was the least productive of his career, is in his NFL dotage now. And so Jackson, who figures to be the man, is doing things characteristic of a player poised for a breakout, including some of the fine detail work he feels can elevate his game.

He has taken of late to sitting with veteran safety Corey Chavous, one of the game's great students, and watching videotape for hours. Chavous has pointed out to Jackson how to read different defensive fronts, how to discern where the overload might be, or from where a blitz might be coming, and where a cutback lane might develop for him.

Jackson has dabbled in some modeling, a career he might want to pursue after football -- "I'm no Tyson Beckford yet, but you never know," he said, laughing -- but most of his offseason was spent preparing to assume a higher profile on the field and tending to his various charitable endeavors off it. His off-field passion in The Steven Jackson Foundation, and its primary emphasis is promoting strong educational values to youngsters in the Las Vegas area.

He will donate $1,000 for every touchdown he scores this season to the foundation and Jackson wants to expand on his two-year-old summer youth football camp. He remains heavily involved with Eldorado High School, his alma mater, with the Las Vegas Pop Warner League and the Bread of Life Church, and he recently donated footwear to The Blazing Ones, a Las Vegas youth track club.

"It's been a city that has been good to me," said Jackson, whose mother, Brenda, was a blackjack dealer at the Hilton and whose father, Steven Sr., was a casino manager at Caesar's Palace. "People think of Las Vegas and they think first about all the glitz. But it's become a really good family city, a terrific place to grow up. Of course, I grew up seeing everything big here, you know? Big productions, big buildings, big lights, big everything.

"And now I'm looking for a big season to kind of make it all complete."