30 Days Till Arizona Football: Looking Back at Former RB's Historic Performance

The countdown begins as we are now officially 30 days away from the season opener for Arizona against Hawaii. Over the next month, we will be taking a look back at some of the top players in Arizona football history by jersey number as we inch closer towards the start of the season.

We start with former Arizona RB Trung Canidate who played at Arizona from 1996-99.

Canidate ran for 1,220 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground in his third year in the program. He capped off the regular season that year in 1998 with a historic performance in the Territorial Cup against Arizona State, rushing for a then-school-record 288 yards and three touchdowns.

His performance led the Wildcats to a 50-42 win in a shootout, clinching the Pac-10 rushing title but the Wildcats just missed out on something bigger that year.

It was the 12th season for Dick Tomey at Arizona. The Wildcats went 12-1 overall and 7-1 in conference that year with their lone loss to UCLA preventing them from earning an outright Pac-10 title and a spot in the Rose Bowl that year. They went on to beat Nebraska 23-20 in the Holiday Bowl that year in a game where Canidate ran for 101 yards on 22 carries.

10/4/97 - UA RB Trung Canidate broke a 96-yard rushing TD with 6:55 remaining in the 2Q vs San Diego State, the longest rushing TD in school-history. He would score two rushing TDs and one receiving on the day. UA came from 21 down in the first quarter to win 31-28. #BearDown pic.twitter.com/LbJBJM9Ogv
— Arizona Sports History (@AZSportsHistory) October 4, 2024

In his final season in Tucson, Canidate exploded for over 1,600 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground with another 30 receptions through the air. He went on to be a first-round pick in 2000 where he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams.

It was a draft pick that confused many at the time as the Rams had the 1999 NFL Offensive MVP on their roster in Marshall Faulk. Canidate appeared in just three games as a rookie where he saw three total carries. He appeared in all 32 games the next two seasons with the Rams, starting three games with 489 yards on the ground and six touchdowns.

After three years with the Rams, Canidate was traded to the Washington Redskins for David Loverne and a fourth-round draft pick. He started 10 of the 11 games he appeared in for 600 yards and one score on the ground on 142 carries.

The following season in 2004, Canidate was released after Washington traded for Champ Bailey. That would be it for Canidate's NFL career.

The performance of Canidate in the 1998 Territorial Cup has put his name in the history books for Arizona football and the rivalry against Arizona State.

What was your favorite memory from Canidate during his time at Arizona? Let us know and be sure to follow us on our X account by clicking on the link.