If Missouri running back Russell Hansbrough isn’t the most unheralded SEC starter at his position, who is?

That may not last. The Tigers’ quiet star should become a household name this season, at least in the region, by rushing for more than 1,000 yards.

Hansbrough parlayed a career-best 20 carries into a career-best 126 rushing yards Saturday against South Dakota State. His effort amounted to little more than a bullet point in media coverage of the game and didn’t register as a blip on the SEC or national radars, save for one play.

At 5-foot-9, 190 pounds, Hansbrough admitted to the Columbia Tribune that he probably hasn’t carried the ball 20 times in a game since middle school.

Missouri’s backs don’t get many high-carry days in general, as Henry Josey’s 18 rushes against Florida represent last season’s high-water mark.

But with co-starter Marcus Murphy spending time catching passes and returning kicks, Morgan Steward (hip) out for an undetermined amount of time and only a former walk-on and true freshman behind them for depth, Hansbrough is a certified feature back for the foreseeable future.

“I can carry the load,” Hansbrough told the paper.

He may have to, at least for now. It’s debatable whether Maty Mauk’s first game as the team’s unquestioned starter represented an incremental step forward in development. The offensive line thus far is more effective in the run game. Really effective. Enough so that coach Gary Pinkel and offensive coordinator Josh Henson may start to lean on it as the team’s biggest strength.

Hansbrough performed especially well early last season, rushing for 104, 31, 104 and 96 yards against Missouri’s non-conference schedule before the team redistributed carries Josey’s direction. (In the first four games, Josey ran 40 times and Hansbrough ran 39. In the final 10 games, Josey ran 134 times to Henry’s 75.)

Toledo, UCF and Indiana, Missouri’s next three opponents, were stingy against the run this weekend. The Knights returned nine defensive starters from the Feista Bowl team and played strong run defense against Penn State. But the Rockets and Hoosiers’ performances are suspect, considering they came against New Hampshire and Indiana State. Toledo allowed 170.4 rushing yards per game last year, while Indiana’s run defense was a fiasco, ranking 115th out of 123 FBS programs and allowing 237.8 yards per game.

Hansbrough should be well on his way to 1,000 yards by the time Missouri opens SEC play at South Carolina on Sept. 27. Assuming he averages what seems like a modest 80 yards per game in the final three non-conference contests, he’ll have rushed for 366 yards this season. Assuming Missouri makes a bowl game and Hansbrough stays healthy, that leaves him with nine games to rush for 634 yards, or 70.4 yards per game.

That means Hansbrough needs to average about 12 carries per game the rest of the season (at 6.0 yards per carry, his 2013 average) to top 1,000 rushing yards. Just seven SEC running backs reached that figure in 2013, including Josey, who finished fifth in the conference with 1,166 rushing yards.

Murphy will continue to snipe some carries, and I’d expect some combination of Steward, Tyler Hunt and Ish Witter to begin offering a trusted third option by the time SEC play starts. But Hansbrough is the man right now in the Missouri offense.

He’s elusive enough and fast enough that we can anticipate him adding at least a couple long breakaway runs at some point this season. Given his stature and Missouri’s relative lack of depth at the position, the Tigers need to balance managing his body with the fact that he probably is the team’s most reliable offensive player.

“He might seem little, but he’s physical,” Missouri cornerback Aarion Penton told the Columbia Tribune. “He’s running 110 mph every time. With him and Marcus Murphy back there, those are two playmakers.”

Hansbrough’s roommate, starting middle linebacker Michael Scherer, said the running back doesn’t talk, adding that a wink from No. 32 represents an outgoing, chatty mood.

“He runs tough,” Scherer said. “You don’t expect a little guy like that to be running over people. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen him run over a guy bigger than (him). He packs a punch.”