Boulder, Colo. ? The Colorado Buffaloes have been trying to find the right niche for freshman tailback Brian Calhoun, who’s speed and potential are impressive.

They got him the ball out of the backfield and on reverses, but neither of those yielded significant results. So, Colorado put him in as a wide receiver against Kansas State Saturday. The result was a 71-yard touchdown pass.

“We’ll find more ways to use him,” coach Gary Barnett said.

For Calhoun, who says he just wants to contribute in any way possible, moving around in the formation is fine with him.

“This is still Chris (Brown’s) and Bobby (Purify’s) team,” Calhoun said. “With me catching passes, it just opens up the passing game. So when I get in there, they’ll put me in a lot of motion, something like that just to get me involved. Obviously, we have two talented backs, and they’re just trying to get me involved as well.”

For the season, Calhoun has carried the football 11 times for 15 yards, and caught two passes for 75 yards.

After reviewing the game film from Colorado’s 35-31 win over Kansas State, Barnett had nothing but praise for the work of the wide receivers.

“It was the first time they’ve been able to make a difference in a game,” he said. “On top of that, Robert (Hodge’s) accuracy, that’s going to scare some people down the road we hope.”