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At 5'9 160 lbs Howard Jackson always faced the question about his size, but to UTEP fans there was no bigger running back in early 2000's then Howie.
After a 2-11 junior season, Jackson along with a first year head coach Mike Price brought a fresh buzz back to the Sun Bowl in 2004.
Jackson had one of the best three year stretches of a UTEP running back in school history, including back-to-back 1000 yard rushing seasons in his junior and senior year's.
During his one season under Price, Jackson ran for 1,187 yards and 10 touchdowns, he also notched five 100 yard rushing games in 2004.
UTEP reeled off seven consecutive wins in the middle of 2004. Howard averaged 105 yards per game on the ground during that stretch while also totaling over 100 receiving yards off his immaculate execution of screens, he racked up 158 yards rushing on 15 carries to start the hot streak in a 45-0 route of NMSU.
Jackson finished his career as the all-time school leader in all-purpose yards with 6,153 career yards, and his 3,446 career rushing yards are good for second all-time in school history, Jackson also tallied 1,947 yards on kickoffs during his tenure.
In his previous three seasons before Price became the head man, Jackson endured the tough, dark times of UTEP football, and was apart of some notable, still joked about today lopsided losses during his first three years as a Miner.
Though he was not recruited by Price, Jackson was a huge part of UTEP's turnaround that raised the expectations after the 2004 Miners finished 8-3 during the regular season, and earned a WAC representation bid in the Houston Bowl berth. Howard Jackson was an El Paso household name in the fall/winter of 2004.
After that magical season Jackson would sign a rookie free agent deal with the Detroit Lions in 2005, though was released at the end of training camp which would be his last blimp on the NFL Miner radar
Just imagine the video game like stats Jackson could have put up under four years with Mike Price.