Once it was announced that leading rusher Josh Clemons had gone down for the season after undergoing knee surgery, the questions about who would step up immediately followed.Of course, sophomore Raymond Sanders will step back into a starting role, but with the way Joker Phillips likes to keep his backs fresh and change up the pace by splitting carries, whoever earns the backup role will have plenty to do on offense.With highly touted freshmen like Brandon Gainer and Marcus Caffey on the roster, speculation turned to the youngsters. Well, a week and half removed from Clemons’ surgery, the freshmen have impressed, but there’s another name that just keeps popping up as Kentucky prepares for Saturday’s game against Jacksonville State: CoShik Williams.”I really like what we’ve seen out of CoShik,” Phillips said. “He’s holding (the younger backs) off.”Williams may lack the pedigree of some of his younger counterparts, but he makes up for it in other ways. He arrived at Kentucky as a walk-on in 2008 with little fanfare and a slight frame. After redshirting his first year, the 5-foot-9, 178-pounder found his way onto the field in his very first game, carrying 10 times for 39 yards against Miami (Oh.). Really, that’s been the story of his whole career. When projections are made about the future of the running back position, Williams seems to be one of the last names mentioned, but he continually works his way into the mix with a tough running style that belies his small stature.And when Williams has gotten opportunities, he’s thrived. The only other game over his first two seasons  he got double-digit carries was against Charleston Southern when he toted the ball 13 times for 95 yards and three touchdowns. This season, his first opportunity came against Louisville when the Cats were trying to make a late-game comeback. He tallied 44 total yards, all in the second half, as UK nearly rallied to send the game to overtime.Williams has learned there is no way to predict when his chances will come, so he never allows himself to lose focus. “I just always practice hard, work out hard and try to stay focused in the film room,” Williams said. “There’s no telling when it will be my time so I always keep the mentality of going hard in practice.”His size and his former walk-on status has led some to overlook him throughout his career, but Williams pays no attention to anyone who calls him an “underdog”, electing to put his head down and work instead.”I just keep going,” Williams said. “You have to block some of that stuff out and be ready when your time comes.”His intensity, tough running style and familiarity with the playbook have allowed him to stand out over the past two weeks and the coaches aren’t the only ones who are taking notice. As the starter, Sanders knows having a bruising backup like Williams can only help him and has been thrilled to see what Williams has done on the practice field.”He’s coming out and working hard, finishing runs and pushing everyone,” Sanders said. “Our goal is get through tackles and finish runs and he’s doing a great job of that. He comes out and gives 100-percent every play.”Since Sanders returned from a knee injury a couple weeks ago, he has taken it upon himself to ramp up his team’s intensity but also inject a sense of fun back into the game. With the Cats’ struggles as a unit, it’s no surprise that things have tightened up in practice, but Williams has joined in with Sanders in trying to make football a game again.”When the team’s not having things go their way, people get down on themselves so what we’re trying to do right now is have fun,” Williams said. “We’ve been out there having fun, smiling and laughing with each other.”