NEWPORT, R.I. - West Virginia running back Steve Slaton has always strived to be the best, and in looking at what the kid has done so far, he has been up there with, well, the very best. Now he's ready to take the next step, one that could lead him to accepting the Heisman Trophy.

Steve Slaton, a unanimous All-America pick last season as the nation's fourth-leading rusher, is one of four from the Big East who will begin the season on the list of favorites for the nation's most prestigious individual college football award.

"For me, the Heisman is representative of the best player in America, and that's what I've always worked for, to be the best," he said.

Steve Slaton finished fourth in the Heisman voting behind Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith, the winner by a landslide, Arkansas running back Darren McFadden and Notre Dame's Brady Quinn. Only Darren McFadden is coming back.

"All you see when you see him is speed and athleticism," UConn linebacker Danny Lansanah said.

If the super-shifty and ultra-quick Steve Slaton does take the hardware home after this season, it will be the journey and progress along the way that he'll equally cherish. We're talking about a humble, unselfish, unassuming athlete who wasn't highly recruited before becoming a player who rushed for 1,744 yards and 18 touchdowns last season and onto the Heisman landscape.

"When I watched Steve Slaton [at Conwell-Egan High School] on a highlight film, it was one of those 45-second to a minute things, `Who is this guy?'" Mountaineers coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I can remember him wearing No.22 running down the sideline, looked like everybody had an angle on him and all of a sudden nobody had an angle on him."

Yes, it's difficult to get a clean shot on Steve Slaton, but angles happen to be one of the things he wants to improve on this season, specifically, cutting down on the angles defenders have in trying to behead his close friend, junior quarterback Pat White.

Together, Steve Slaton and White form arguably the best 1-2 offensive punch in the country, rushing for almost 3,000 yards and 49 scores between them last season.

"I want to be a better blocker," Steve Slaton said firmly while sitting next to White, another Heisman hopeful, at Big East media day at the Hotel Viking. "That's the number one thing I want to work on, being a better blocker. I just feel being undersized, naturally, there are going to be bigger linebackers coming and bigger D ends coming, and I feel that I can be a little better at holding my own and giving Pat a little more time to make plays."

Not exactly what you would expect to hear from a Heisman candidate running back, but the guy wants to be a complete player, and that's part of the definition of the award. He can do everything else. Steve Slaton was second in the nation in all-purpose yards at (161.9 a game). He led the Big East with 2,104 all-purpose yards.

"I think [blocking is] very important," Steve Slaton said. "Any extra time that can help the decision he makes could end up in six."

That could happen any time Steve Slaton touches the ball, too.

But his unselfishness is something to behold. White is the same way. Rodriguez digs that. He has two team-first guys in a race for the Heisman in a day and age when the "me mentality" is alive and well.

"I've never really been one that thought you had to have a campaign for an individual because it's a team sport," Rodriguez said. "You get enough games on national TV, enough exposure, the media and all that will give them enough hype. But the Big East did ask if I minded that they had some kind of promotional thing for the Big East guys in the race. Hey, if they want to do it, that's fine. It doesn't bother me because knowing those two guys, it won't change or affect the way they are."

If Steve Slaton, who averaged 134.2 yards rushing in 2006, wins the Heisman, then that would mean he protected the ball better. He'll come into the season motivated by a lot of things, with leading West Virginia to the conference title and a BCS berth at the top of the list.

But also on his mind will be his performance in a loss at Louisville, when the Cardinals were ranked No.5 and the Mountaineers No.3. Steve Slaton had 108 yards and a touchdown by halftime. With his team down 16-14, he started the third quarter by fumbling twice within the first three minutes.

The second set up a Cardinals touchdown, and Louisville was on its way. Steve Slaton was bothered by a weakness in his left arm but to him, that's no excuse. He has to hold on to the pill.

Steve Slaton, who ended up with 156 yards rushing in the game, isn't to blame, but who knows what the final outcome of the season could have been for WVU had it won that one?

"It's definitely motivating," Steve Slaton said. "Any loss is motivation the next time you go out, but being a competitive person and being on a competitive team, you don't like losing and especially not playing to your potential."

But Steve Slaton is coming back as healthy as he has ever been, probably more motivated than he has ever been and on a quest like he has never been on to be the best player he can be, and that might be good enough to win the Heisman Trophy.

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