Kansas University's Marcus Henry, left, runs away from Mike Rivera during the Jayhawks' spring scrimmage in April. Teammates say Henry clocked the fastest 40-yard dash time in KU spring drills, coming in at 4.39.

It’s just one-tenth of a second. But Aqib Talib will tell you that it’s quite noticeable.

“You see a 4.3 (40-yard dash) live, it looks crazy, man,” Kansas University’s heralded junior cornerback said. “You can see a 4.4, but if you see a cat run a 4.3, it’s only that one little tenth, but it’s a big difference. You can tell the difference. It just looks so much faster.”

The difference is something hard for most to imagine, but Talib knows it well and tells it with wild excitement. That’s because he’s run a few 40s in his day.

His KU teammates nearly unanimously mention his name, whether it be solo or along with a handful of others, when asked: “Who’s the fastest guy on this team?”

“I would have to say Aqib,” says sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey.

“It’s three guys I can easily say: Raymond Brown, Aqib Talib and myself,” junior receiver Marcus Herford said. “We haven’t (raced), but we may need to do that to prove who is the fastest.”

“Aqib ran the fastest 40,” junior Gary Green added.

And the man himself?

“I ran the fastest 40,” Talib said with a smile.

But he had to slow himself for a moment. It was 2006 when Talib ran the team’s fastest 40-yard dash. This year during the spring season, he was the silver medalist to senior receiver Marcus Henry.

“Actually, this year ‘Mute’ (Henry) ran the fastest 40. Mute ran the 4.39 or something like that, I ran the 4.41 or something like that,” Talib said. “But last spring, I ran the 4.39 and Mute ran the 4.44 or something like that.

“But if we raced in the 40, I’d get him.”

No matter who’s the fastest between the wildly talkative corner, the rangy, soft-spoken receiver or anyone else, teammates recall quite the scene when the two were clocked in football’s ultimate teller of speed during spring ball.

“When coach clocked it and he told us what it was, everybody went crazy, for both of them,” junior offensive lineman Anthony Collins said. “We take everything seriously. The strength and conditioning staff works us real hard all during the summer, all year-round really. When we have a chance to compete like that, we go hard at it.”

Kansas University's Marcus Henry, left, runs away from Mike Rivera during the Jayhawks' spring scrimmage in April. Teammates say Henry clocked the fastest 40-yard dash time in KU spring drills, coming in at 4.39.

It’s a good friendly competition to have, and one Jayhawk teams of recent years may not have had.

“We’re very fast,” sophomore running back Jake Sharp said. “When we’re in training and stuff, it’s pretty ridiculous. If you’re not going all out, you’re going to get smoked by somebody and look bad.”

While Talib and Henry get most of the mention, Sharp, who said he’d love to see who’s the team’s fastest if the barometer were a 100-yard dash rather than a 40, is among a host of others who give the 2007 Jayhawks a dimension flashier than KU teams of the past.

“I would say our speed level, from what I’m told, is at a higher level than it’s ever been,” Sharp added.

The respect is mutual among KU’s speedsters. Talib pronounced Darrell Stuckey as the team’s top athlete.

“I’ll just accept it, and I can’t argue it,” Stuckey said with a chuckle.

On a serious note …

“Your athletic ability doesn’t win games,” Stuckey said. “It only is used for entertainment, to laugh, like ‘How the heck does he even do that? Why are you even doing that?’ I think athletic ability is not measured by who can bench press, who’s the most flexible. It’s more about who has the most body control when it comes to being a great athlete, and it’s more about your awareness of your body and stuff like that.”

But a little speed to burn is nice, too.