HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- Darius Marshall can't beat football teams by himself.

But it looks like he is trying to do exactly that when he runs the football for the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Second, third and fourth efforts are the norm for Marshall, a 5-foot-10, 189-pound tailback whose ability and attitude -- he runs angry, as coaches say -- has allowed him to avoid a sophomore slump.

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Marshall has topped the 100-yard mark six times this season, including each of the last three games.

He had 142 yards on 16 carries Saturday in Marshall's 30-14 homecoming loss to Central Florida.

"I think it was a great performance on my behalf," Marshall said, "but I would give it up just to get a win."

That performance came after his 20-carry, 123-yard effort in a 19-16 overtime loss to East Carolina and his 15-carry, 102-yard effort in a 37-23 victory over Houston.

His 61-yard run against the Knights is the longest in his college career.

"I saw everybody flowing to the left, I got a couple of blocks on my O-line and a downfield block by one of my receivers and I just hit it," said Marshall, who starred at Baldwin High School in Milledgeville, Ga.

"You can't credit me on the run. You just have to credit the people in front of me. They opened up the lane and I was able to use my vision to see the hole and I just made a tremendous cut."

Marshall has 883 yards and five touchdowns on 182 carries in 10 games this year and has climbed to third in the conference in rushing. He had 631 yards and three touchdowns on 123 carries in 12 games last year, when he earned a spot on Conference USA's All-Freshman Team.

Marshall also has shined on special teams as the Herd's premier kick returner.

He has 705 yards on 25 returns this season. He had 556 yards and one touchdown on 19 returns last season.

"Coach always (stresses) playmakers making big plays and I just want to be that type of guy," Marshall said.

"Offensively, he is a bright spot for us," said Marshall Coach Mark Snyder, whose struggling team has lost five of its last six after winning three of its first four. "His kickoff return ability has been pretty good, too."

The super sophomore will try to continue his success in both areas Saturday when Marshall visits Rice for a Conference USA matchup. The Owls (7-3, 5-1), favored by 8 1/2 points, will welcome the Herd (4-6, 3-3) to Rice Stadium in Houston.

CBS College Sports -- available on DirecTV (channel 613), Dish Network (152), Suddenlink (317), Comcast (174) and Armstrong (499) -- will televise the game, which will kick off at 3:30 p.m. (EST).

Marshall beat Rice last year in the teams' first meeting, 34-21, but never has won in Texas. The Thundering Herd has lost in each of its four trips to the Lone Star State.

If Marshall doesn't end that streak this year, it will mark the fourth consecutive season the Thundering Herd has failed to earn a bowl berth.

Marshall's last postseason appearance was a 32-14 loss to Cincinnati in the 2004 Fort Worth Bowl in Texas.

"We have two more games we have to win to go to a bowl," said Marshall, who was an Atlanta Journal Constitution All-State first-team selection in 2005 (2,300 yards and 30 touchdowns) and 2006 (2,153 yards and 28 touchdowns).

The team's regular-season finale is a home game against Tulsa.

"We're going to try to win out as a team," Marshall said.

His yards per carry (from 5.1 to 4.9) and his yards per kickoff (from 29.3 to 28.2) have decreased slightly in his second season, but that likely is because Snyder is asking more from him this year.

Marshall already has 59 more carries in two fewer games than last season.

The added work hasn't reduced his energy or intensity.

"Darius is a hard runner no matter what he does," senior right guard Matt Altobello said. "Hand him the ball and he's going to fight for 4 or 5 yards. You have got to love blocking for him."

Contact sports writer Jacob Messer at jacobmes...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1712. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/marshall.