Adrian Peterson has his sights on Emmitt Smith's NFL career rushing record and said he expects to break the mark in 2017, even circling a date on the NFL calendar as to when he'll accomplish the feat.

Peterson, 28, finished just eight yards shy of Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing record (2,105) last season, when he rushed for 2,097 yards. Peterson has said his goal is to reach 2,500 yards in 2013.

But he also has targeted Smith's record of 18,355 yards, and told the Star-Tribune that he expects to break the record in Week 16 of the 2017 season, even though his current pace would have him approaching the mark in Week 4 of the 2019 season.

Peterson currently has 8,849 yards. His estimate would mean it would take him 79 games to rush for the 9,507 yards needed to set the all-time rushing mark, which would require him to average 120.3 yards per game in that span.

"Whoo. That's pushing it, huh? But hey, pushing it is the only way to do it. You know it," he told the newspaper.

If Peterson does become the NFL's all-time leading rusher, he'll make history in another category as well.