Melvin Gordon needs 201 rushing yards to break Ron Dayne's Big Ten single-season record (2,109). At the rate he's going, Gordon should have that wrapped up shortly after Saturday's national anthem.

"That guy at Wisconsin's on another planet right now," Gophers coach Jerry Kill said.

But the Big Ten galaxy is loaded with running back stars this year.

The conference has four players ranked in the top 10 nationally in rushing: Gordon (first), Indiana's Tevin Coleman (second), the Gophers' David Cobb (seventh), and Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah (ninth).

And Michigan State's Jeremy Langford, who has six consecutive 100-yard rushing games, isn't far behind, at 21st.

"The SEC has great backs, too, and the Pac-12 — all over," Cobb said. "But the Big Ten, week in, week out, you're seeing 200 [yards] from this guy, 180 from this guy, 200 here, 100 receiving here. I mean, it's a competitive league and that brings the best out of all of us, not just me."

Two hundred-yard games have become commonplace. Cobb has two of them this year, Coleman has three and Abdullah and Gordon have four apiece.

Coleman upped the ante last week with a 307-yard performance against Rutgers. Of course, that went virtually unnoticed nationally, as Gordon was simultaneously breaking LaDainian Tomlinson's single-game NCAA record with 408 rushing yards against Nebraska.

Gordon probably ensured himself a seat with the finalists at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York. He broke Tomlinson's record with 25 carries and didn't even play the fourth quarter. The Cornhuskers have good speed on defense, and they couldn't catch him. The only thing stopping him was the end zone. In one game, he gained more rushing yards than Wake Forest has for the season (341).

In CBSSports.com's latest NFL draft prospect rankings, the website lists Gordon as a probable first-round pick (No. 16 overall), followed by Abdullah (No. 42), Coleman (No. 45), Langford (No. 97) and Cobb (No. 122). Gordon and Coleman are both juniors, but it would be a surprise if both didn't leave for the NFL.

Unlike Gordon, Abdullah and Coleman, Cobb didn't make the list of 10 Doak Walker Award semifinalists, even though Cobb is responsible for 37.6 percent of the Gophers' total offensive yards.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who faces Indiana this week, said he can't recall a conference producing this much running back talent at once.

"And then you see that they're doing it against some of the top rush defenses in the country," Meyer said. "That's one thing I noticed about it."

Even with all the damage these backs are doing, the Big Ten still has four of the nation's top-10 rushing defenses, with Penn State (first), Wisconsin (fifth), Michigan (seventh) and Michigan State (eighth).

Coleman, Gordon and Cobb could all break their school's single-season rushing records this weekend. Gordon is chasing the mark Dayne set over 13 games in 1996. Coleman has 1,678 yards and needs 128 more to break Vaughn Dunbar's Indiana record of 1,805, set in 1991.

Cobb has 1,350 yards and needs 115 more to break Laurence Maroney's record of 1,464, set in 2005.

And here's one more to think about: Gordon needs 720 more yards to break Barry Sanders' single-season FBS record of 2,628 yards, set in 1988 with Oklahoma State. Sanders got there averaging an astounding 238.9 yards over 11 games. Gordon has averaged 190.9 yards over 10 games, and the Badgers could play up to four more if they reach the Big Ten title game.

That was a year for the ages for Sanders. But this has been a memorable one for these Big Ten backs, too.