When Markese Stepp arrived on campus as a coveted transfer out of USC, most had already penciled him in as the favorite to be Nebraska's starting running back in 2021.

But barely a week into his first spring practices as a Husker, the fourth-year sophomore out of Indianapolis was sidelined due to a pre-existing foot injury.

When NU returned to work for fall camp, few knew what to expect of Stepp's potential impact this season. After one week, though, he's already put himself firmly back in the discussion for the starting job going into Week 0.

"I've been pleasantly surprised with Markese Stepp's progress," head coach Scott Frost said. "We weren't sure if he was going to be 100 percent coming into camp. I still don't think he's 100 percent, but he's stacked some pretty good practices together.

"He's farther along in knowing the scheme than I expected him to be. I've been really happy with his performance through the first few practices."

Stepp, who has three years of eligibility remaining, took a redshirt in 2018 after playing in four games his first season at USC. He appeared in 15 games over the past three seasons for the Trojans, totaling 100 carries for 505 yards and six touchdowns, along with four catches for 35 yards.

Listed at 6-foot-1, 230-pounds, Stepp is one of the bigger backs on Nebraska's roster, and he's also the most experienced.

As long as he can stay healthy, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said Stepp would have every opportunity to have a prime position in NU's backfield rotation.

Coming into this fall, we thought Markese would have limited reps," Lubick said. "'Let's see what he can do; we don't want to rush him back too soon and see how he progresses.' He's been doing better than we thought as far as his health. I don't know, that's kind of practice by practice.

"I think he's ready to roll, and if we had a play tomorrow, he'd be ready to roll. We feel good about that. He's progressed a little bit faster than we thought he would from a health standpoint."

Whether it's Stepp, freshman Gabe Ervin, or any other in Nebraska's stable of talented-but-inexperienced running back room who emerges as the starter, position coach Ryan Held said his group had to be more productive across the board in 2021.

"Even more this year, we've got to be able to help our team on all phases of the game because we have talent in the room," Held told the Husker Sports Network. "Now we just got to be able to go out there, and I’ve got to be able to count on guys when I come into work, and I know who's going to be able to be someone we can count on day in and day out."