Ranking the 10 best small school college football RBs of all time

LeShon Johnson is an example of how junior college can allow an unheralded player to blossom into one of the most dominant running backs to ever play at a small school. Johnson spent his first two years playing at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College before transferring to Northern Illinois for his junior and senior years.

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In his first year playing a I-A schedule, Johnson racked up 1,300 rushing yards and six touchdowns. As a senior in 1993, the Huskies affiliated with the Big West after years as an independent school. Johnson went on to dominate his senior year, leading the nation with 1,976 rushing yards. He finished sixth in the Heisman voting, earning five first-place votes.

After college, Johnson was drafted in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played for four years before lymphoma cancer derailed his career. He returned from treatment to play in 1999 for the New York Giants and moved on for a final year in the XFL before retiring from the game.