SALT LAKE CITY — As Utah’s practice wrapped up ahead of a matchup with No. 17 Arizona State, a little league football team who was invited to the team’s facility waited in the north end zone in hopes of greeting their favorite players as they walked off the practice field.

One by one, various athletes and coaches made their way through the crowd, greeting the kids and signing autographs. It’s a dream come true for many of the kids who watch the players on TV and envision playing careers of their own. But once the team’s star running back Zack Moss was in sight, there was no question he was a wanted man.

“Zack! Zack! Zack!” the kids screamed as he made his way off the field. As Moss drew closer to the group, the incessant chants grew louder, as if he were a rock star. And by all accounts, he is to the fans who watch him rush all over opposing defenses.

Instantly, Moss was encompassed by a horde of fans asking for an autograph they’ll likely prize for years to come, and for a chance to spend a minute with a running back with a bright NFL future. That night there was no doubt the four-year starter had left an impact on the program.

But on Saturday, Moss is expected to cement his name in Utah history as arguably the best running back to come through the program. The Florida native is 55 yards shy of breaking the all-time rushing record at Utah, a record held by Eddie Johnson for the last 31 years.

It’s an opportunity to cap off an amazing collegiate career in a key division game.

The record, among other things, is one such reason Moss returned for his senior season and passed on an early entry in the NFL draft, despite earning a second-round grade. The opportunity to graduate and become Utah’s best running back, in a year where the Utes were expected to have a special season, was too hard to pass up.

But when you ask him about the record now, in the midst of a 5-1 season and a No. 13 ranking in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, it’s just a footnote to an otherwise important game week — one seemingly necessary win to claim a South Division title.

“Somehow, someway; it's going to be broken somehow, someway, so there's no pressure,” Moss said. “I'm just trying to come out here and prepare the best way I can. The most important thing to me this weekend is the W. I don't really worry about it, I don't care about it too much right now. At the end of the season we can sit back and have a chance to relish and things like that, but right now is all about this game this weekend, trying to take sole first place in the South.”

“I think he just wants to win this game, honestly, that's the most important thing for him right now,” his running back coach Kiel McDonald said. “Most important thing for this team is to win the game, so that'll be nice when he gets a chance to do it, which he'll be like, ‘Man, I accomplished something.' But at the end of the day, we need to win that game.”

But Moss would be lying if he didn’t admit that the record is important to him; it is, but it’s never been about him in his four-year career at Utah. Still, he gets the opportunity to break the record with his parents and his older brother sitting in the stands — a rare opportunity, given that it’s hard for his family to make a game 2,500 miles away.

“It means a lot,” he admitted.

His family was expecting to watch him break the record against Washington State, but Moss sustained a shoulder injury midway through the game against USC the week prior and was forced to sit on the sidelines. So after changing plans, which included getting a doctor’s note to confirm Moss’ injury to change flights, his family now gets the opportunity to see history made.

“I wanted to see him in person because we miss him a lot,” Cassandra Moss, his mother, said. “I haven't seen him since I was there in May for his graduation, and I haven't seen him since — other than FaceTime and things like that — but not in person. So, it's just adding to our awesome list that he is accomplishing, and it really is amazing.”

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Cassandra Moss said she didn’t even know about the record until after her son broke free for a 91-yard rushing touchdown against Oregon State last Saturday. She said she subscribes to several smartphone alerts about her son and the team, and it wasn’t until one of those alerts mentioned the record that she realized his next game could mean even more for her visit.

“I was hoping I could be there,” she said. “That night, I was like, 'Wow, I might be there.'”

But more important than the record, she’s just excited to see her son again in person. The two share a special bond and have been close throughout his childhood. She said Zack has always depended on her, so she’s ready to sit down with him and see where he’s at in his life.

“I plan to really talk to him in-depth when I get there on Friday morning,” she said. “I’m just wondering what's all going on with it. I don't even actually know what's all going on. … I'm just wondering if he's grasping all of what's taking place. It's just a lot of excitement.”

Zack Moss will get his opportunity to break the rushing record against a Sun Devils team that features the 2018 First Team All-Pac-12 running back Eno Benjamin, who has rushed for 529 yards (4.23 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns this season. The junior has 15 yards and one touchdown more than Moss on the season in one extra game, though Moss averages 3.33 more yards per carry.

Moss said he looks forward to competing against the rival back and said it will give him an extra push to lead his team to victory.

“It definitely does add a little bit more to the game, for sure,” Moss said. “You have another guy on the other side of the ball trying to go out there against your team and perform well, so you try to do the same thing against his team.”

And though the rushing record is likely to be broken Saturday, Moss still has a lot of records that could be his by the end of the season. Moss is currently three rushing touchdowns short of breaking the all-time rushing touchdowns record of 31 set by Del Rodgers from 1978-81 and is 1,006 yards away from breaking the single-season rushing record set by John White IV in 2011.

“I'm so happy for him. This is his journey,” McDonald said. “When you talk about being a coach, you just want to help him and just showing him the way and how to do it, that's it. He's the player, he's the guy out there creating, so I'm just going to be really, really happy for him.”

Utah is set to kickoff against Arizona State Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium at 4 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.

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