Sometimes five-star football recruits get treated with kid gloves. They’re coddled, eased along.

Bill Callahan went the other direction with running back Marlon Lucky. Kid gloves? Try boxing gloves.

Please rewind to August 2005. The Nebraska coach sought to measure the Californian’s mettle. Callahan threw the kid to the wolves — that is, the Huskers’ first-string defense — during preseason drills. Every day. Every practice. Every scrimmage. The Blackshirts battered and bruised the ballyhooed back.

“It was hell,” Lucky said Tuesday. “But it woke me up. I figured at that point, college is for real.” 

Said Callahan: “I wanted to see what Marlon was all about.”

Make no mistake, the coach likes what Lucky’s all about.

“He answered that challenge,” said Callahan, recalling Lucky’s indoctrination period. “Hey, he just worked his butt off in every phase. He just tried to get better. He was physical. He was everything you wanted out of a top back.

“Then his vision got better. He started understanding and seeing things. He still has a ways to go, but he’s really made some tremendous strides.”

Lucky, a 6-foot, 210-pound sophomore, seemingly found his stride last week against Troy, reeling off three long touchdown runs and finishing with 156 yards on 10 carries, easily his best college performance. He darted through holes large and small like a Porsche roaring through Los Angeles traffic. He slid through creases, exploded upfield and — voila! — suddenly one realized that perhaps Callahan is a magician of sorts.

For the coach has somehow installed the West Coast offense while also stockpiling a quartet of I-backs who would fit nicely in the former Husker offense.

Nebraska (3-1) ranks 10th nationally in rushing with 224.3 yards per game. Lucky leads the way with 365 yards on 51 attempts, or 7.2 per carry.

Draws, zone runs, perimeter runs — everything seemed to work against Troy. The offensive line stepped up. I-backs read the holes. Lucky burst through them like a missile.

“He has the ability to hit the home run,” Callahan said.

As does Kenny Wilson and — to a lesser extent — Cody Glenn and Brandon Jackson.

Each back possesses unique qualities. Each could start at many Division I-A schools.

But none of the others capture the imagination like Lucky.

Lucky’s progress will be a joy to watch unfold. He’s like a 2-year-old Thoroughbred showing signs of becoming a Kentucky Derby contender.

One can make the argument that Wilson is as good or better than Lucky overall. Whatever. It’s too close to call.

As it stands, it makes sense for Lucky to remain the starter, the feature back, however that’s defined. Because Lucky shows the most promise. Build his confidence because he could become special, as in Ahman Green special or Lawrence Phillips special or Roger Craig special or Bobby Reynolds special.

Mike Rozier? That’s hallowed ground. Let’s not get carried away.

Not yet, anyway.

After all, Lucky managed 27 yards on 10 carries against Southern California’s ferocious front seven. Callahan, though, never lost confidence in the kid from Cally.

“He had two runs against SC that I know for a fact he could’ve made big plays on, and he just missed,” the coach said. “He missed a cut. I think he tripped up on one, and the other one he got pinned into the boundary. It was great to see him break out Saturday night (against Troy).”   

As a true freshman last season, Lucky carried 43 times for 149 yards. At times he tried to force things a bit, Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor said.

“This year, he’s just letting things happen,” Taylor said. “He’s running smooth. It’s fun to watch.”

Lucky had a ball against Troy. It won’t be his last shindig.

“He’s gotten so much better,” Callahan said.

Callahan said Lucky has had to learn how to practice, how to train, how to prepare for battle.

“I believe that’s a process, and he’s accelerated that process,” the coach said Tuesday. “The offseason conditioning program was challenging for him, and I thought he answered any questions about conditioning.

“The amazing thing about Marlon is his durability.”

Callahan saw Lucky’s toughness back in August of 2005, when the California kid kept getting hammered and coming back for more.

It was the start of something special.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.