Nine weeks ago, when the Harvard football team took the field, you probably wouldn't have noticed No. 44 standing behind 6' 3 junior quarterback Neil Rose.

After all, sophomore Nick Palazzo is 5' 8 and would have been hidden behind Rose's shadow. And he wasn't supposed to see a minute of playing time as the Crimson's fourth-string tailback.

Luckily for Palazzo--and for the Harvard running game--things have changed.

No longer lost behind Rose's shadow, Palazzo has emerged this season to become one of the team's two featured running backs and will see significant playing time in the biggest game of the season.

Palazzo and sophomore tailback Matt Leiszler have spearheaded the best rushing offense in the Ivy League, which averages 184.5 yards per game. In spite of his size, Palazzo is the fourth highest-rated running back in the league, averaging 5.8 yards per carry and totaling 704 yards on the ground this season.

Although the Harvard coaching staff was unsure of his role on the team before the year began, Palazzo's presence was felt from the very start of this season--by a Holy Cross middle linebacker who was leveled by the 190-pound running back on a third-down blitz in his first series of the year.

Since then, Palazzo has made numerous bruising runs around the Ivy League and established himself as one of the most difficult offensive players to contain. In four 100-yard games, during which he showed up Columbia's star running back Johnathan Reese and left No. 8 Lafayette's run defense in shambles, Palazzo has burst into the limelight the same way he rockets through a hole created by the Crimson offensive line.

"I think [my height] helps me," Palazzo said. "It gives me a lower center of gravity, and the linebackers can't see me [behind Harvard's offensive linemen] so I can get behind [their] blocks."

Using his size to ward off the opposing secondary, Palazzo is just as deadly catching passes as he is at gaining yards on the ground. Though Palazzo is a diminutive back, his power-running style more than compensates for his stature, and teams find him almost impossible to stop once the ball is in his hands.

Last season, no one would have guessed that Palazzo would be one of the team's offensive stars. The sophomore ran for two yards on only one carry last season and spent much of the year on the sidelines, watching Chris Menick '00 set the all-time Harvard career rushing record.

Certainly a tough act for Palazzo to follow, not least of all because Palazzo didn't know whether he would have a chance to rival it. Going into preseason workouts as the team's fourth-string tailback, he had only a few weeks to prove himself to the coaching staff.

Palazzo's chance finally arrived when a slew of injuries crippled the Crimson's offensive backfield, but as his play has shown throughout the season, he deserves to be on the field.

"Nick has provided us with inspiration," said split end Carl Morris. "He gives everything he has. Whatever happens, Nick's going to go out there and never give up."

Last Saturday, Palazzo broke through Penn's line for another 122 yards on only 13 carries, for an average of 10.7 yards per carry, including a 66-yard rumble for a touchdown in which he broke three tackles.

Palazzo has tallied 704 yards over 8 games this season on 122 carries--an average of 88 yards per game and 5.8 yards per rush.

"He has stepped up a whole lot at tailback since Chuck [Nwokocha] went down," Leiszler said.

Senior tailback Chuck Nwokocha began the season as the top option in the Crimson backfield, but tore his MCL in Harvard's season-opening loss to Holy Cross. Junior Jared Lewis, who was ahead of Palazzo on the depth chart, also went down with injury.

While unfortunate for the team, the injury provided an opening for Palazzo, and he has run with it.

"I just want to keep improving," Palazzo said. "I want to be the total player, and I don't want to let my teammates down. I'm inspired by my dad; he came [to the U.S.] from Italy when he was 20. He's a hard worker, gets up every morning and just works."

Like father, like son: Palazzo gets focused before work each Saturday. He remains reticent before the game, sleeps next to his jersey Friday night and reads letters and messages from loved ones to get himself motivated.

"He stepped up when a lot of people thought we were down after our two backs went down," Morris said. "He's pretty quiet, and leads by example."

According to Morris, however, when Palazzo is in the game he is a "wild man."

Palazzo plays within himself and according to a style that is not quite like anyone else's. He likes to watch Barry Sanders' sharp cutbacks and speed, but he is a self-proclaimed north-south runner. He likes to watch Eddie George's combination of size and athleticism, but size is not one of Palazzo's attributes.

Palazzo has molded his own style of running this year, bruising through defensive lines and breaking the tackles of defensive backs. He has emerged as one of the team's offensive leaders.

"Nick's one of the hardest working kids I know," Leiszler said. "He cares about the team and football as much as anybody. And it rubs off on everybody."

"He's someone we can count on," Morris said. "He gives us the emotion we need in big games."

Some of Palazzo's motivation comes when he sees how hard his teammates work on the field.

"It fires me up," Palazzo said. "Football is about intensity. We have 10 Saturdays a year to have fun and get crazy."

The Game, however, isn't a usual Saturday afternoon for Palazzo.

"Last year's was a tough game to lose," he said. "I'll never forget that."

"If we can establish a running game, then Neil [Rose] can have a better game on the passing end of it and we can balance the offense," Leiszler said. "We're going to approach it like any other game. We're going to give 100 -percent effort and a little extra."

Despite minimal playing time last year, Palazzo made two special teams tackles in The Game.

This year, the Crimson will be counting on Palazzo to step up and contribute in a bigger way.

"This is why you come to Harvard," he said. "It's a special game."