It’s your time, Dimitri Nance.

Monday, at ASU coach Dennis Erickson’s weekly press conference, he said, “[The competition for running back is] fairly even. I wish somebody would jump right out…”

Either Nance was practicing his jumping Monday night or he ran really well on Tuesday, because after Tuesday’s practice he was named the starter.

I’m guessing it was the latter.

Coming out of high school Nance was regarded as one of the top running back recruits.

He was rated as the No. 13 all-purpose back in the nation by Rivals.com and is one of only two players in Texas 5A history to go over 3,000 yards in a season.

The other is Cedric Benson of the Cincinnati Bengals.

So, it should come as a surprise that his career at ASU has not exactly lived up to the hype.

In his three years as a Sun Devil, Nance has tallied just 1,139 yards and 13 touchdowns.

But this guy is not going down without a fight during his final year in maroon and gold and he seems poised to prove any doubters of his ability wrong.

“I just want to prove that my name can be out there with the best of [the other running backs] in the country,” Nance said. “I haven’t had a really good career here, but I think this year I can put my name out there a little bit and show everybody what I could do.”

Although he is anxious for one last chance to showcase his skills this season, he is quick to speak highly of the other running backs in the stable.

And Sun Devils fans should be excited to see the influx of young talent at the position.

Freshman Cameron Marshall has made a big impact in camp and this kid is going to be exciting to watch.

His crisp cuts and great acceleration have boosted him to No. 2 on the depth chart.

Marshall will be a great change-of-pace back to balance the power of Nance’s downhill style.

Sophomore Ryan Bass is next in the rotation, and he showed great upside last season and in camp.

Even at third on the depth chart, Bass’ speed should give defenses fits.

Just ask the quarterback.

“That depth is going to help us grow as a running back unit,” senior quarterback Danny Sullivan said. “Having all those guys that can go out and make a big play at any time is good and it helps those other guys want to push themselves even more.”

Other than the questions that swirled around camp of who would start at the position, the running backs have not received much love.

But they are an integral component to this team’s success.

Erickson’s offense will spread teams out — although, he refuses to call it a spread offense — and the passing game needs these backs to keep the defense honest.

Yeah, the passing game is glamorous, but I am piqued to watch this corps surprise a lot of folks that want to undersell their talent.

Reach the reporter at eschimm@asu.edu.