By John Reid

Daily News Staff Writer

Barry Sanders is finally running like the Barry Sanders Stanford fans expected.

Sanders, son of the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back of the same name, is finding his stride in the Cardinal”s run-oriented attack. Sanders should get his share of touches Saturday as Stanford entertains Arizona in a Pac-12 contest at 7:30 p.m.

“Barry continues to find his way,” Stanford football coach David Shaw said. “I challenged Barry, at the same time I made him a promise. ”You show us special stuff and you”ll continue to get increased carries.” He”s shown us his special ability. Barry is a fourth-year guy, but he”s still growing as a football player. He has a lot of confidence, and I have a lot of confidence in him.”

Sanders went for a highlight-reel 65-yard touchdown gallop with 12 minutes left in the Cardinal”s 42-24 victory over Oregon State on Saturday, putting the game out of reach.

“It was a good play,” Sanders said. “It”s one of those things that happens so fast. The next thing I knew I was in the end zone, celebrating with my teammates.”

Sanders, who had an 11-yard touchdown run earlier in the game, netted a career-high 97 yards on seven carries, a 13.9 yards per carry average. He is averaging 7.8 yards per carry for the season, rushing for 157 yards on 20 carries. He has yet to catch a pass this year, but came into the season with 11 receptions.

Sanders has been caught somewhat in the numbers game since he arrived at Stanford. After redshirting as a freshman, Sanders sat as a sophomore while Tyler Gaffney had a breakout season. Remound Wright had the bulk of the carries last season with 135, with Sanders third in carries with 59. This year, Christian McCaffrey, as expected, has come to the forefront, rushing for 445 yards on 88 carries.

“It hasn”t been frustrating,” Sanders said. “I know what I can do. Coach utilizes us the best he can. We”ll continue to try to make plays when we”re out there. Going into this year, all three of us knew each other”s talents. We knew we could be special as a collective group. A little piece of that showed against Oregon State. We love competing against each other, which has made all three of us better.”

Sanders gave credit to his offensive line, one that has improved greatly since Stanford”s 16-6 loss to Northwestern to open the season.

“The line has played extremely well these last few weeks,” Sanders said. “It was just a matter of staying on their blocks more. It has shown.”

The Cardinal will be a prohibitive favorite Saturday, mainly because the Wildcats were blown out by UCLA 56-30 at home a week ago.

“We can”t overlook Arizona,” Sanders said. “That”s something we learned from the Northwestern game. We have to go in each week with the same intensity. That”s not even in our mind-set, looking over these guys. It”s part of conference play and we”re still playing for our goals. We have to go through Arizona first.”

Sanders starred at Heritage Hall High in Oklahoma City, rushing for 5,037 yards and 70 touchdowns in his career. He was rated a four-star recruit by Rivals and Scout and the ninth-best running back prospect by ESPN.

Sanders” father, Barry Sanders, won the Heisman Trophy out of Oklahoma State in 1988. A perennial all-pro running back for the Detroit Lions, Sanders was inducted into the hall of fame in 2004. It has to have been hard for the Stanford Sanders to follow in dad”s footsteps.

“I don”t want to be called Barry Sanders Jr. if you can help it,” the younger Sanders said at a press conference on Tuesday. “Everyone around here calls me Barry J.”

Barry J is finding his way Down on the Farm.

Email John Reid at jreid@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at twitter.com/dailynewsjohn.