Fullback Nick Sizemore gives the Kansas University football team a short-yardage back, a physical pass-blocker in the backfield and a guy who in some packages can plow the way for smaller backs.

Inside linebacker Darius Willis gives the Jayhawks a man in the middle who can move, always a nice asset.

Watching how Sizemore and Willis fit into their new team and new conference after competing for Turner Gill at Buffalo qualify as reasons to take an interest in the program, but they already have played Div. I football. Few things captivate the imagination of a sports fan quite like watching someone compete at a new level for the first time.

Human nature is such that we want to believe the new always will trump the old. We want to believe the only reason the next Gale Sayers, this generation’s John Riggins and a modern-day Nolan Cromwell haven’t lit up Memorial Stadium is because they haven’t played an official game.

Who knows, the next KU legend just might make his first appearance this season. A look at 10 guys I’m most eager to watch.

1. Darrian Miller, RB: So many great backs are faster when being chased than when running for a stopwatch. The great Walter Payton — though not as great a back as Earl Campbell — comes to mind. Miller has this quality. His 40 time? One step faster than the guy chasing him.

2. Brandon Bourbon, RB: He looks big in pads and fast on the stopwatch. Can’t wait to see how that translates against Big 12 defenses. He wants to earn a spot as a kick returner so that he can do what he wasn’t able to do in high school, when they always tried to kick away from him. He said he did get to field a kick on three occasions and returned two of them for a touchdown. Red-shirt year helped him to make transition from a small high school.

3. Tony Pierson, RB: Not big, but the fastest jet in the hangar and shifty too.

4. Michael Cummings, QB: Draws raves for his smarts, quick feet and strong arm. It’s too much to learn for a guy who just graduated in May and he’s not yet a year removed from ACL surgery, but he has the look of a winner, even if he doesn’t get a shot this year.

5. Jimmay Mundine, TE: Less-than-perfect attendance record during summer conditioning raises caution flag, but this red-shirt freshman is a serious athlete with a good pair of hands.

6. Tunde Bakare, OLB: Undersized linebacker built reputation as a hard-hitting, fast-moving energizer in junior college and has the caught coaching staff’s attention with his speed in practice.

7. Collin Garrett, ILB: Smart true freshman already is pushing the veterans for playing time.

8. Michael Reynolds, OLB: A year from now, once Reynolds is running in the right direction every play, he could hunt the quarterback from one side while Toben Opurum hunts him from the other. Poor quarterback.

9. JaCorey Shepherd, WR: Is the most advanced of the freshman receivers and could work his way into the mix. Single-cover him at your own risk.

10. Malcolm Walker, OLB: Defensive coordinator said none of the defensive backs would want to challenge this 220-pound juco transfer to a race.