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By JERRY KELLAR; Times Leader Sports Writer
Wednesday, October 02, 1996 Page: 1B
If not for the carelessness of somebody in the football office, Curtis Enis
could very well be scoring touchdowns for Ohio State these days instead of
Penn State.
All the Buckeyes had to do was get the name right.
“It said, `Chris Enis,’ ” the Nittany Lions’ sophomore tailback and leading
rusher said Tuesday, referring to some official correspondence he received
from the OSU football program. “I think there was just some miscommunication
between Ohio State and me.”
It was a rather costly typo for the Buckeyes, who lost out on the Union
City, Ohio, star to Big Ten rival Penn State. For the record, the Lions never
had a problem correctly identifying their top recruit.
“We had Curtis in camp a couple of summers,” said Lion coach Joe Paterno.
“Our people really liked his work ethic and they liked him as a person. We
pretty much made up our minds he was the kind of person we liked to have in
our program.”
One letter pretty much did the trick.
Enis, in fact, still hasn’t forgotten the first note he received from Penn
State’s football office, the one hand-signed by Paterno.
“That meant a lot to me,” said Enis, who spent one year at Kiski Prep in
Saltsburg, Pa., prior to coming to State College.
A full-fledged Lion now, Enis returns to his home state Saturday when
fourth-ranked Penn State meets No. 3 Ohio State at 3:30 p.m. at Ohio Stadium.
The Big Ten Conference showdown will be televised by WNEP-TV Channel 16.
Speaking Tuesday on the weekly Big Ten teleconference, Buckeye coach John
Cooper downplayed the Enis angle for Saturday’s game, noting that the player
never showed interest in coming to Columbus.
“We never had a shot to get Curtis,” Cooper said. “Apparently, Curtis’
assistant coach in (Mississinawa) high school worked the Penn State camp and
it was pretty much etched in stone to where Curtis was going to go. He never
gave us a second look.”
That didn’t stop the Buckeyes from trying, Paterno said. The coach, during
his own press conference Tuesday, suggested that Ohio State continued to
recruit Enis even after the All-America running back committed to Penn State.
“I know Ohio State put a lot of pressure on him to change his mind,”
Paterno said. “We weren’t happy about that.”
Enis remained undaunted.
“I gave coach Paterno my word,” he said. “That’s one thing I never fall
back on, my word.”
In a word, Enis has been sensational.
In his four games this season, the soft-spoken 20-year-old has rushed for
550 yards on 92 carries, an average of 6.0 yards per pop. His 137.5
yards-per-game average ranks him 12th in the nation.
The 6-foot-1-inch, 231-pound wrecking ball collected his third 100-yard
effort of the season against Wisconsin, ripping the Badgers for 115 yards and
scoring both Lion touchdowns, giving him seven for the campaign.
He had a key 14-yard run on Penn State’s game-winning drive in the fourth
quarter against the Badgers.
“I’ve lost 10 pounds and I’ve increased my speed and my stamina to be a
four-quarter back,” Enis said. “I’m able to read defenses better this season
and I’m more capable of making adjustments.”
Returning home for the first time in his college career won’t be a problem,
he said.
“It’s not any different,” Enis said of ancient Ohio Stadium. “Just a big
grassy field.”
Cooper told reporters that Enis reminds him of former Lion great Ki-Jana
Carter, yet another Ohio native the Buckeyes let slip away.
“He’s a big, explosive type of back,” Cooper said of Enis. “He has the
power to run people over and has the speed to outrun the defense. He’s the
best back we’ve faced so far and maybe the best back we’ll face all year.”
Though he professed a great admiration for Ohio State’s football program,
Enis said he feels right at home at Penn State.
“I felt this was the best situation for me,” he said.