SF Chronicle: Cal's Forsett grows into role as top running back

Three days.  Between the end of spring camp April 14 and reporting day for training camp Sunday, Cal's new starting tailback Justin Forsett has taken off only three days, and the benefits of his work ethic were obvious at a Bay Area college football media event Wednesday in San Francisco.  The 5-foot-8 senior has added 10 pounds of muscle to jump above the 200-pound mark. Meanwhile, he's managed to maintain his 4.4-seconds speed in the 40-yard dash and added flexibility with Pilates classes.  "He's been around every day this summer," junior linebacker Zack Follett said. "Some of things he's doing right now make it impossible not to be excited."

In the shadow of eventual NFL runners Adimchinobe Echemandu, J.J. Arrington and Marshawn Lynch, Forsett established himself as one of the top backups in the nation. He ranks No. 1 in the country among returning players with a 6.39-yards-a-carry average, but the lingering question has been whether or not he can sustain that pace while handling the bulk of the team's carries.  "It's about the 30th time I've answered that," Forsett said with a laugh. "Since I've been here, my goal has been to be productive. That doesn't change as the starting running back. I just get more questions that aren't about Marshawn or J.J. now."  Early RSVP: Cal senior safety Thomas DeCoud has already received interest from the East-West Shrine Game. An envelope from the game's representatives arrived in coach Jeff Tedford's office last week.  "I was like, 'Wow,' " DeCoud said. "I remember being in high school and waking up after a Friday night game to watch the Shrine Game on TV."  DeCoud made an early impact with six blocked kicks before emerging in the secondary last year. He is listed as the fourth-best pro safety prospect in the 2008 draft class by NFL Draft Scout.

"I've Googled my name once or twice," he said. "I'm aware of it, but I know none of it is written in stone because we have a whole season to play."  

 

Briefly: Cal linebacker Greg Van Hoesen painted black tiger stripes into the bleached blonde hair of Follett. "Since I chopped the mop off, I had to come up with some kind of status symbol," Follett said. ... After a spring of playing all along the offensive line, Cal's Alex Mack will be back at center, Tedford said. "He's a vital cog in the wheel that we cannot afford to take out of there. His experience, knowledge and communication make him a dominating player, and we feel there are other players who very capable at other positions along the line."