Marshall Faulk was a standout high school athlete who played both running back and cornerback. He received several recruitment offers from the top colleges in the NCAA, but because of his standout performance on defense, intercepting 11 passes as a senior, he was primarily recruited to play as a defensive back. He ended up accepting an athletic scholarship to attend San Diego State, because they were the first school to offer him a scholarship to play the running back position. Faulk was recruited by Curtis Johnson, and coached by Bret Ingalls and future New Orleans Saints head coach, Sean Payton. In one of the most prolific performances of his entire career, he ran all over the University of the Pacific in just his second collegiate game on September 14, 1991. In 37 carries, he racked up 386 yards and scored seven touchdowns, both records for freshmen (the 386 yards were then an NCAA record). "Faulk had scoring runs of 61, 7, 47, 9, 5, 8 and 25 yards." That performance sparked one of the greatest freshman seasons in NCAA history, gaining 1,429 yards rushing, with 23 total touchdowns (21 rushing), and 140 points scored. Faulk went on to better 1,600 yards rushing in his sophomore year. In Faulk's junior season in 1993, he was finally able to showcase his all-purpose ability by catching 47 passes for 640 yards and 3 touchdowns to go with 1,530 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. These numbers put Faulk 3rd in the nation in all-purpose yardage that year, and 2nd in scoring.