MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- As a freshman in 1999, West Virginia's Avon Cobourne wasn't sure if he'd ever have a chance to start at running back. Now he's about to join an elite group.

Cobourne could become just the fifth Division I-A rusher to gain 1,000 yards in each of his four seasons when West Virginia (4-1, 1-0 Big East) plays at home Saturday against Syracuse (1-5, 0-2).

He would join Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett and former Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne. The other two rushers are Amos Lawrence, who played for North Carolina from 1977-80, and Denvis Manns of New Mexico State (1995-98).

Cobourne, who ranks fourth in the nation with 149 yards per game, needs just 106 against the Orangemen to make the record book.

"I figure I'm going to get it this week," he said. "The o-line, they've been picking up the defense. Hopefully if we'll be throwing the ball a little better and get people out of the box, I think I'll be able to get it."

Cobourne landed the starting job when Amos Zereoue left school after his junior season to enter the NFL draft in 1999. Alvin Swoope, Zereoue's backup, had the best performance in spring drills but left the team that summer for personal reasons.

"I didn't know if I had a career here. If I did, I thought it'd be brief," Cobourne said. "I knew there were a lot better players than me. I just didn't think that I was going to start."

He gained 1,138 yards his freshman season, 1,018 in 2000 and 1,298 last year.

This year, West Virginia has the No. 2 rushing offense in the nation, averaging 300 yards per game. The Mountaineers face the Big East's worst rushing defense in Syracuse, which has allowed an average of 202 yards and 100-yard individual efforts in three of the last four games.

"Cobourne is just a real, real special guy," Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. "He can really make you miss."

The conference's all-time leading rusher has a school-record 576 yards in his last three games, including a career-high 260 yards against East Carolina. Against Rutgers last week, he became just the seventh Division I-A back to have four 100-yard games against the same opponent.

He needs 696 yards in his last six games to surpass Zereoue's single-season school rushing mark of 1,589 yards and become just the fifth Division I-A back to surpass 5,000 career yards.

He'll be the first Mountaineer since 1940 to lead the team in rushing for four consecutive seasons.

"I don't know of any back I've ever seen that has Avon's vision at the line," offensive lineman Lance Nimmo said. "He makes us look good when sometimes we're not."