“He’s going to crush a lot of these records,” says Menick, who as a coach for Fordham last year had the opportunity to watch Dawson on film. “And it’s not just Harvard records—he’s going to go and get some Ivy League records as well.”

By the time his four years at Harvard are done, Dawson may not just get “some” Ivy records—he may own pretty much all of them.

The 2,369 yards he’s accumulated on the ground so far already put him over the half way mark of reaching Cornell great Ed Marinaro’s Ivy record of 4,715 career yards. And his 28 career rushing touchdowns also put him on pace to eclipse Marinaro’s Ivy record of 50 by the time 2007 roles around.

Add to this that captain Ryan Fitzpatrick and senior receiver Brian Edwards will be playing their last games on tomorrow, and Dawson may become even more of a focal point of the Crimson offense over his final two years, bringing records such as career carries into reach.

All of this has led to national recognition and the chance to become the first Harvard recipient of the Payton Award, presented annually to the best player in Division I-AA.

While Dawson thinks he only has an “outside shot” at the honor, he knew from day one that he could put up some impressive numbers once he got an opportunity.

“Without sounding overconfident or cocky, yes, I expected this kind of success,” Dawson says. “I did expect to have athletic and individual successes here. My experiences at Northwestern really led me to believe that given hard work I could have successes there or here or anywhere.”

Demanding Respect

“Off the field, yeah, he’s the nicest guy... On the field, he is the fiercest competitor out there, between him and Ryan [Fitzpatrick] they would brawl anybody out there.” -—Brian Edwards

It was not more than half an hour after Harvard demolished Princeton 39-14 on the Tigers home turf. Dawson had just finished his best statistical game of the year with 201 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

But Princeton linebacker Zak Keasey wasn’t buying into all the hype.

“I don’t think he’s different from any other back we’ve faced this year,” Keasey told reporters following the game.

For Dawson, comments like those just add to his drive.

“Stuff like that absolutely infuriates me,” says Dawson of Keasey’s comments. “When I don’t feel like I receive a certain level of respect from my opponent the natural response is to be upset. I can’t wait next year to play Princeton.”

“Clifton demands respect,” says his teammate and roommate, fullback A.J. Kennedy. “He always says ‘I’m not just going to earn respect. I’m going to demand respect.”’