The roar is unmistakable.

It builds slowly, from the moment LSU fans realize Leonard Fournette is about to touch the football. Handoffs or quick tosses, there is a different decibel level at Tiger Stadium when his number is called.

Jacob Hester, a former LSU standout running back and NFL fullback, has run out of words to describe what it’s like to watch Fournette carry the ball. So he did his best to describe the sound.

Thunder, followed by lightning, a bolt streaking into the open field.

LSU opened the second half Saturday night against Eastern Michigan with a routine handoff to Fournette on first-and-10 from its 25. Ten seconds and 75 yards later, the folks at Walk-Ons probably didn’t have to look up from their beer to realize what was happening.

They could hear the roar half a mile away.

“It’s a feeling you get on every toss, you can hear a slight roar every time he touches it,” said Hester, who does radio work on game days for the Tigers. “Every time. On second-and-7, a normal handoff, you still hear the roar. And it just builds, like fans are expecting him to hit a home run every time.”

It grows so loud, you don’t need seats at the 50 to hear it. Hester joked you don’t even need a seat in the stadium.

“I’d bet the farm that you could hear the roars sitting outside on the patio of Walk-Ons,” he said. “It starts off at a small roar, almost like you’re tapping your buddy next to you like, ‘here he goes,’ and then it gets louder with each yard that Fournette picks up.”

Thunder, followed by lightning. Just like Fournette’s fast, physical running style, which he relied on to become the first back in SEC history with three consecutive 200-yard games. He’ll try to add to that total Saturday at South Carolina.

“I get a good view of it every week,” Hester said. “Last year, he had all of that hype and he was trying so hard to hit a home run on every play. He’d lower his head. In high school, you can get away with that. It took him three, four games to figure out how to run at this level. … This year, the patience he’s had, he’s hitting every hole.

“Even the coaches are shaking their heads, laughing.”

Legends, too.

Herschel Walker, the greatest of all SEC running backs, told a national audience last weekend that Fournette is better than he was.

“People are scared to put him in that category,” Hester said, “but when Herschel comes out and says it … I can’t even put into words what he’s doing right now.”