You can debate and squabble over the placement of a lot of guys on this list, but there’s really no doubt at this point of the season who the nation’s top running back is.

It’s 5’11”, 227-pound Notre Dame powerhouse junior Audric Estime, who is leading a deep and talented Fighting Irish backfield.

Everybody is oohing and ahhing over the Irish offense with graduate transfer quarterback Sam Hartman at the helm, and he adds a championship-caliber element to the team for certain, but Estime has been a workhorse and a superstar so far.

Throughout a 4-0 start that features wins over Navy, Tennessee State, North Carolina State and Central Michigan, Estime has run for 521 yards and five touchdowns on an 8.2 average.

Not only does he has the brawn to gain the tough yards, he’s broken some big ones, too. He has scored in every game so far, and the only time he failed to break 100 yards was a 95-yard effort in the season-opener against Navy. In the Irish’s biggest game so far, he scored twice and ran for 134 yards in a three-touchdown win over North Carolina State.

Plus, dudes his size aren’t supposed to do things like this.

“Audric is Audric,” Irish coach Marcus Freeman told the Associated Press. “He’s going to be the guy we give the ball to and say, ‘Run this thing.'”

They’ll have to do it successfully next week to beat Ohio State in what is going to be the sport’s marquee matchup of the week. It’s going to be fun to watch Estime on the big stage.