Coral Gables, Fla. ? Entering the season, there were plenty of unknowns about Miami running back Tyrone Moss.

He wasn’t in great shape for his first two years, and that contributed to his meager 3.2-yard-per-carry average over 2004’s final nine games. He lacks the speedy, explosive style of recent UM standouts Edgerrin James and Willis McGahee, and only seemed to excel against substandard competition.

In short, the Hurricanes weren’t sure if Moss was ready to be their featured back.

“The opportunity presented itself,” Moss said. “I had to step up and take advantage of it. … It’s my turn.”

And a smaller Moss is putting up bigger numbers.

Slimmer and quicker, Moss is off to a strong start for No. 12 Miami, with 241 yards rushing in the season’s first two games. He had a 139-yard, career-high three-touchdown effort, with the last score a 25-yard jaunt in the third overtime to lift the Hurricanes past Clemson, 36-30, on Saturday.

“I’ve always known that I can go out there and get the job done,” Moss said. “There was never a doubt in my mind.”

He’ll have a serious test Saturday when the Hurricanes (1-1) play host to Colorado, a team that’s yielded a total of 100 rushing yards in its two season-opening victories and is holding opponents to 1.8 yards per carry.

“Tyrone’s a big back, and he’s physical,” Miami linebacker Jon Beason said. “He can take the load. You can give him the ball, and he’s going to give you three or four yards just because of how hard he runs the ball.”

Moss’ durability and power never has been a problem.

The same couldn’t be said, however, about his conditioning.

Coaches openly were displeased with Moss’ weight after last season; only 5-foot-9, he ballooned to 236 pounds, seemingly getting bigger as the year went along. But when last year’s starter, Frank Gore, announced he was leaving Miami a year early for the NFL, Moss realized he needed to make changes.

Goodbye, his beloved fried chicken. Hello, leaner meals and extra workouts.

He’s 16 pounds lighter now, even after adding a bit more muscle mass. And Moss won the starting job, beating out talented sophomore Charlie Jones and freshman Derron Thomas – two players who’ve gotten high praise from coaches.

“Everybody wants to play well on Saturday afternoon in front of 80,000 and on national television,” Miami coach Larry Coker said. “But when you’re in the hot summer sun and when you’ve got a chance to eat four pizzas and you don’t go, that was the thing that made an indication this guy’s really going to dedicate himself.”

Moss signed with Miami in 2003, touted by Coker as “the best running back in America.” His high school numbers were amazing; he ran for 2,313 yards and 35 touchdowns as a senior at Pompano Beach Ely High and led his team to a state title. He had three straight 2,000-yard seasons.

But the hype never matched reality in his first two college seasons. Now, that seems to be changing.