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ByMichaelWagaman TheAssociatedPress ALAMEDA Midwaythroughlast season Latavius Murray was sit- ting on the Raiders bench, con- fident in his abilities but un- certain whether he would get a chance in Oakland's crowded backfield. Things sure have changed in the 13 months since then. With two games remaining in the regular season, Murray is closing in on the AFC rush- ing title and needs just 44 yards to become the first Raiders run- ning back since 2010 to reach the 1,000-yard mark. That's a fairly lofty achieve- ment considering that Oak- land has had sporadic success moving the ball on the ground. Heading into the Christmas Eve game against San Diego, the Raiders are 25th in rushing. "It would mean a lot," Murray said Tuesday when asked about reaching 1,000 yards. "Obvi- ously a good benchmark for me individually, but also just for this offense and a compliment (to) the way we've been running the ball." A sixth-round draft pick in 2013, Murray was slowed by injuries early in his career. He spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve then suffered a concussion during a breakout game against Kansas City last November. Murray has stayed healthy this season and the results have been mostly positive. He's fifth overall in the NFL with 956 yards and has eight runs of 20 yards or longer which is tied for fourth. First-round pick Amari Coo- per reached the 1,000-yard mark for receiving yards last week. If Murray reaches the milestone for rushing, it would mark the ninth time in franchise history and first since 2005 that the Raiders have a running back and wide receiver do it in the same season. That's one of the reasons Oak- land is optimistic about its fu- ture, despite the team being as- sured of a 13th consecutive sea- son without a winning record. "All that stuff means we get good players," Raiders quarter- back Derek Carr said. "When you hear things like that it means we're heading the right way. I'm happy that I'm here and that I get to be a part of it." Murray had good reason to question if he would be a part of Oakland's future or present. The 25-year-old fractured his left foot during training camp in 2013 and underwent surgery that sidelined him the entire season. He came back in 2014, but hardly played on offense for the first two months of the season while the Raiders went with the aging and unproductive duo of Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew. Murray got an opportunity against Kansas City during a nationally televised game on Nov. 20 when he rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns on just four carries. He suffered a concussion and did not play in the second half against the Chiefs. But showed enough over the final games to convince the front office that he deserved an extended look. When McFadden was not re- signed and Jones-Drew retired, NFL Raiders'Murraynears 1,000yardsthisyear Oakland star running back closes in on AFC rushing title during a breakout season PHOTOSBYBENMARGOT—THEASSOCIATEDPRESS With two games remaining in the regular season, Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (right) is closing in on the AFC rushing title and needs just 44yards to become the first Raiders running back since 2010to reach the 1,000-yard mark. Oakland Raiders running back Latavius Murray (28) is fi h overall in the NFL with 956yards and has eight runs of 20yards or longer which is tied for fourth. By Chris Biderman The Associated Press SANTA CLARA The San Fran- cisco 49ers' offense ranks last in both scoring and yardage. Those struggles, in part, can be traced back to the 49ers per- formance on third down. Over the past two games, the 49ers converted just 4 of 27 at- tempts in lopsided losses to Cleveland and Cincinnati. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who will make his seventh start in Detroit on Sunday since tak- ing over for Colin Kaepernick, said the struggles on third down are a result of what happens on earlier downs. "We were in third-and-12, third-and-15, and the percent- ages of converting those are low, especially when you're tak- ing penalties on second down to put yourself in third-and-15. It was just more of us shooting ourselves in the foot than any- thing," Gabbert said. Six of the 49ers' 11 penalties in the 24-14 loss Sunday to the Bengals came on offense, includ- ing two in the first quarter that set up third-and-long situations. Gabbert was sacked four times Sunday, after taking a franchise- worst tying nine sacks the previous week in the loss to the Browns. "Blaine Gabbert has got to be able to be protected too. He's got to have time to make those throws," coach Jim Tomsula said Sunday, when asked about NFL Gabbert:49ers'3rd-downstruggleshurt Part of problem is team's lack of success on early downs TONY AVELAR — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) passes as guard Andrew Tiller blocks Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap (96) during the first half in Santa Clara Sunday. Sunday: San Francisco 49ers at Detroit Lions, 10a.m., TV on FOX. TUNEIN Thursday: San Diego Chargers at Oakland Raiders, 5:25p.m., TV on NFL Network. TUNEIN By Ralph D. Russo The Associated Press Stanford running back Chris- tian McCaffrey is The Associated Press college football player of the year, becoming the first non-Heis- man Trophy winner to earn the honor in six years. McCaffrey was the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy to Der- rick Henry, but received 29 of 60 votes from the AP Top 25 media panel to edge the Alabama run- ning back. Henry received 16 votes and Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson was third with 11. Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds and Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield each received two votes. The last time the AP player of the year was not the Heisman winner was 2009. That season Ne- braska defensive tackle Ndamu- kong Suh was the AP voter's choice while the Heisman went to Alabama running back Mark Ingram. It is the fifth time over- all that the Heisman winner and AP player of the year went to dif- COLLEGE FOOTBALL Stanford's McCaffrey wins AP's top player Broke all-purpose yards mark of Sanders in '88 MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ — THE AP FILE Stanford's Christian McCaffrey won the AP player of the year award on Tuesday. ROSE BOWL GAME Friday, Jan. 1: Iowa vs. Stanford, 1:30p.m., TV on ABC. TUNEIN Wednesday: Utah Jazz at Golden State Warriors, 7:30p.m., TV on CSNBA. TUNEIN By Carl Steward Bay Area News Group OAKLAND Steve Kerr is closing in on returning to the bench as the Golden State Warriors' head coach. He said so himself Tuesday, and the only thing he still can't provide is a date. "I know what you're going to ask already," Kerr said in a sur- prise fill-in stint for interim coach Luke Walton with the media. "I'm not going to be coaching (Wednes- day) or Christmas Day. I've got to continue to build on the last week and build my strength and resil- ience. All I can say is I'm hoping to be back soon." Kerr has participated in the last several days of practice and ran most of the latest one in preparation for Wednesday's game against Utah. Walton had to leave early because he wasn't feeling well. As for how Kerr felt after run- ning the show … "I felt pretty good, but I'm not NBA KARL MONDON — BAY AREA NEWS GROUP Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers, le , and head coach Steve Kerr watch practice. Kerr close to returning to bench for Golden State RAIDERS PAGE 2 MCCAFFREY PAGE 2 WARRIORS PAGE 2 49ERS PAGE 2 SPORTS » redbluffdailynews.com Wednesday, December 23, 2015 MORE AT FACEBOOK.COM/RBDAILYNEWS AND TWITTER.COM/REDBLUFFNEWS B1