It was four years ago to the day.

It was the beginning of the 1996 season.

It was Penn State against Southern California in the Kickoff Classic.

And it was the day that one-time linebacker Curtis Enis emerged as Penn State's premier tailback. In the Nittany Lions' 24-7 win, Enis rushed for three touchdowns, scampered for 241 yards and hauled in 17 yards from the air.

"I don't remember that," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said.

But Mike Cerimele does.

"He physically just dominated USC," said the Nittany Lions fullback, who was redshirting that season. "He went out there and just ran over people. He took it right to them."

It is ironic Paterno would forget about Enis, who left Penn State after his junior season in 1997 after accepting a suit from sports agent Jeff Nalley. Before his eventual suspension for the Citrus Bowl, Enis compiled 3,256 yards in his Penn State career with 36 touchdowns.

The Chicago Bears selected the Union City, Ohio, native as the fifth overall selection in the 1998 NFL Draft. But he was not all the Bears had hoped he would be.

Enis developed a drinking problem. Enis was arrested on sexual assault charges that were later dropped. Enis tore his left anterior cruciate ligament his rookie season.

But then, he came through last season as the Bears leading rusher with 916 yards on the ground.

"Curtis is a great talent and hopefully he will put it all together and help the Bears get to the playoffs," Paterno said when asked if Enis was a complex individual. "How's that for a cop out?

"Curtis is fine with us. A lot of people are upset because of the way he left and I am a little bit disappointed because I think he could have handled it better. I thought he should have waited. He could have done better for himself."

Enis did pretty well for himself after the Kickoff Classic in 1996. After garnering 683 yards on the ground his freshman season, the former Kiski Preparatory School standout showed exactly why he had been dubbed as Mr. Football in Ohio at Mississinawa Valley High School his senior season.

Enis owned the Trojans, and seemed to gain ground like a tank invading a defenseless country. That is what John Robinson's squad was — defenseless.

"Curtis Enis ran all over them," Penn State wide receiver and former Trojan Rod Perry said.

"That was the first time I ever experienced a runner at the college level do what he did to USC," Penn State tailback Larry Johnson said. "He totally showed the meaning of what a power team or power back would be like."

That is why Paul Hackett has been holding up signs with "241" written on them to the Trojans this preseason, so Johnson or Eric McCoo do not repeat Enis' feat, which is still a record in Kickoff Classic games.

"They didn't appear to be playing at the same speed Penn State was," said CBS college football analyst and former Penn State quarterback Todd Blackledge, who was on the Giants Stadium sideline for the 1996 game.

Enis would rush for 1,210 yards that season and 13 touchdowns. He entered the 1997 season with the potential to claim two of the top honors in college football: the national championship and the Heisman Trophy.

Both outcomes seemed to be realistic possibilities, until late in the season when Michigan thwarted both runs and held Enis to one of his lowest totals that season — 103 yards — in a 34-8 throttling on a rainy, murky November Saturday in Beaver Stadium.

Three weeks later, Enis played his last game in the Blue and White. While he racked up 106 yards on the ground and found his way into the end zone against Michigan State, Sedrick Irvin and Marc Renaud each rushed for more than 200 yards as the Spartans cruised to a 49-14 win.

Enis walked off the Spartan Stadium turf, clutching his helmet in his right hand, with an inexplicable look into the sky. The sun was setting -- on East Lansing, on Enis' career.

Soon after that game, it started. Newspapers reported Enis had accepted a suit from Nalley, an NCAA violation. Enis subsequently denied the allegations.

And later confessed.

Paterno suspended No. 39 for the bowl game against Florida, and Enis, Penn State's third all-time leading rusher, became the Bears' next prospect to fulfill the legacy of Walter Payton.

Enis had a tough rookie campaign, where he played in nine contests before suffering a season-ending injury. Overall, he ran for 497 yards on 133 attempts, a 3.7 yards-per-carry average.

Last season, Enis started 13 games and finished the campaign just shy of the 1,000-yard plateau. He became a receiving threat as well for the Bears, placing third on the team as a receiver.

"He was good for us," Paterno said. "He was a hard worker. Played hard. Very productive. He was a heck of a football player. Where he is with the Bears now? I don't know. I hope everything works out for him because he can be a heck of a player."