STANFORD, Calif. — Toby Gerhart’s massive arms were so bloody after his latest dominating performance that coach Jim Harbaugh thought he had been cut with razor blades.

Gerhart figured he’d at least get some cool stitches out of the deal as yet another sign of his toughness. The cuts turned out to be shallow and needed nothing more than a simple bandage. That figures, since Gerhart is the one who usually doles out the punishment instead of receiving it.
Gerhart has used his physical running style to help Stanford get back onto the national scene for the first time in years. The Cardinal (4-1, 3-0) lead the Pac-10 and could move into the AP poll for the first time in eight years by winning at Oregon State on Saturday.
“He’s an NFL back playing college football,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a shining star for us.”
Gerhart, who is a powerful 6-foot-1, 235 pounds, is fourth in the nation in rushing at 130 yards per game, including a 200-yard effort against Washington last month. He ran for three touchdowns last week against UCLA and has eight TDs for the season.
That has moved Gerhart to the periphery of the Heisman Trophy conversation. The Web site heismanpundit.com ranked Gerhart ninth this week and picked him as this week’s player to watch.
“You dream about it as a kid,” Gerhart said. “That’s always been a dream or aspiration. To get to that point it comes through the team. You have to be successful. We’ve had success so far this season and that’s why I’m getting the recognition.”
Positive recognition is something new for the Cardinal, who have suffered through seven straight seasons of losing that reached a low point in a 1-11 season in 2006. Harbaugh arrived for the next season and has instilled what he calls a “blue-collar” work ethic that is personified by Gerhart.
While Gerhart gets the most attention, he tries to deflect the praise to his blockers. He feels most comfortable hanging out with the offensive linemen who help him achieve his success as opposed to having the spotlight shine on himself.
“As far as running backs go, he’s a pretty big guy,” center Chase Beeler said. “If we were out to dinner, it wouldn’t surprise me if he were mistaken for an offensive lineman if he weren’t Toby Gerhart and people didn’t already know who he was. He feels like one of the guys because he takes the hits and takes the lumps just like we do.”
The one place Gerhart doesn’t get hit is in practice, where he is off-limits to the Cardinal defenders because of his importance to the team on Saturday.
Safety Bo McNally remembers the last time he brought Gerhart down a few years ago. He planned to challenge Gerhart by hitting him high, but thought better of it and went for his feet and managed to bring him down.
Watching opponents contend with Gerhart is much more enjoyable for McNally.
“It’s pretty incredible the way he can run through tackles,” McNally said. “I’ve never seen anyone like that on the college level. You’ll see guys bouncing off him. They’ll take him high, and give him a good hit and he’ll kind of bounce a little bit to the side and keep on running and take on another hit, bounce and keep going. Another problem is you can’t take him low because he’ll run right through your arms. He’s a special back.”
Gerhart also has surprising speed for his size, often catching teams off guard with his ability to get to the edge for a big play. He also has improved his footwork, and takes as much pride in juking an opponent as he does in bashing one.
“I’ve tried this year to mix it up a little more and be more elusive and show my speed,” he said. “Sometimes I watch film and say, ’Yeah that’s a sweet cut.”’
There has been talk since well before the season started that a Bay Area running back would be under consideration for the Heisman Trophy. Perhaps few outside the Stanford campus thought that back would be Gerhart instead of California’s Jahvid Best.
But with Best being slowed down in two blowout losses for the Golden Bears and Gerhart compiling big numbers each week, the focus has shifted from Berkeley to The Farm.
Gerhart is still a long shot to make it to New York as a finalist even with the increased buzz he has gotten in recent weeks.
Stanford is not putting together a gimmicky promotion for Gerhart, like Oregon’s Times Square billboard for Joey Harrington or the leaf that Washington State sent out for Ryan Leaf in years past.
The extent of the campaign has been a few Twitters from Harbaugh, who told his followers Monday: “Each morning when you wake up, drink 16 oz of water, brush your teeth and cast your Heisman vote for Toby. EVERY DAY!”
Gerhart doesn’t want any Heisman campaign, preferring to do his work on the field. He figures he can get plenty of attention come November, when Stanford goes through what he calls the “murderers’ row” portion of the schedule.
The Cardinal finish the season by playing No. 13 Oregon, No. 7 Southern California, rival Cal and then Notre Dame, providing a big stage for Gerhart to show that he’s worthy of mention with the other top players in the country.
“If we get through those games and are 11-1 or 10-2 all that other stuff will fall into place,” he said. “I don’t think we should be overly concerned with trying to promote anything. I think we should continue to promote our team. All the other stuff will take care of itself.”