Like most people in Imperial, California, varsity football coach Kerry Legarra heard stories about a uniquely talented youngster named Royce Freeman before having even set eyes on him.

He heard people around town describe Freeman as a man-child or a physical specimen. He heard the stories about the shortstop who would get to a baseball in right field before any other players and still get the out at first. He heard about the eighth-grader who could dunk a basketball.

But in Imperial, a city of about 15,000 residents, it always seemed as though people were looking for something to talk about. Maybe this kid was just getting his 15 minutes of fame a little early.

Then came the day when Legarra was sitting in the stands at a high school girls’ basketball tournament and a player began shooting baskets at halftime.

Oregon freshman RB Royce Freeman's athletic talent was evident at an early age. Courtesy Freeman family

“Some of the people up in the stands asked me, ‘Do you know who that is?’ I said, ‘I suppose he goes to school at the junior college out here,’ ” Legarra said. “They said, ‘No, that’s Freeman.’ ”

That was Freeman, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound 13-year-old.

“He was that mature at that age,” Legarra said. “Just looking at him, his physical features, I couldn’t believe that was him. I honest to God thought it was one of the players for our junior college that we have here in Imperial Valley.”

But it wasn’t just in eighth grade that Freeman -- now the starting running back at Oregon -- looked like an athlete beyond his years.

“He was just born that way,” his mom, Sheila, said.

He was 8 pounds, 1 ounce, at birth, but he grew quickly.

His parents never really put him in zero- to 3-month-old baby clothes. They nicknamed him “Tank” even before he could walk -- which was, of course, earlier than most other babies. He required a bottle every hour and a half for the first months and that didn’t stop until they began crushing up cereal to put in with the milk. (Their doctor said this might upset Royce’s stomach. Of course, it didn’t.)

He kept growing and naturally leaned toward sports. T-ball was his first, but Pop Warner football wasn’t far behind.

By elementary school, he struggled to make the weight restrictions for his teams -- he was too heavy to play with the kids his own age -- so he had to play up an age group or two.

By fifth grade, Freeman’s parents decided they didn’t want to restrict Royce’s eating habits, nor did they want to put him with kids so much older in football, so he stopped playing.

“We just made a decision that he would wait,” Sheila said. “And then he could continue playing if he wished to continue playing.”

He focused on baseball for the next few years, but Sheila saw how the sport didn’t really hold his attention. When high school football tryouts rolled around, Royce decided he would go out for the team, despite his five-year hiatus from the sport.

He made the junior varsity team. But Legarra and Imperial had to get permission from the state to allow Royce, who wouldn’t turn 15 until February, to play on the varsity team (the California Interscholastic Federation did not allow 14-year-olds to play varsity football).

Freeman had been moved up by the time league play rolled around. And though Legarra doesn’t remember Freeman’s first varsity carry, his second -- a 63-yard touchdown run -- sticks out.

“And then the story was written,” Legarra said.

It also was then that Legarra realized that maybe the hype was actually not big enough for a kid who would end up putting Imperial on the map.

Freeman rushed for 111 touchdowns and 7,601 yards in high school. He had a strategy with coaches and his parents to sneak out of the football stadium after games.

By his junior year, people would park their cars outside of the stadium at 6 a.m. on a Friday to make sure they could have the best tailgating spots for Royce’s games at 7 p.m.

“It was unbelievable,” Legarra said. “It was like he was a movie star or something.”

When Freeman left for Eugene this summer, Legarra told his son: “Within four games he’ll be the starting running back there.”

Freeman has rushed for 290 yards and six touchdowns in his past two games. AP Photo/Ryan Kang

Legarra was only one game off. By the Ducks’ fifth game, Freeman was announced as the starting running back.

He’s only 18 years old, 6-1 and 229 pounds, but leads the conference with 11 rushing touchdowns (tied for fifth nationally) and is sixth in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (90.9).

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Freeman is making his mark as a true freshman. He never really played against boys his own age, so stepping into the starting role at Oregon isn’t that much of a departure.

“The way my body turned out,” Freeman said, “I learned how to use it.”

Now opposing coaches in the Pac-12 are trying to figure out how to defend against that body. No one has had much success. Against conference opponents, Freeman has rushed for 450 yards and six touchdowns, and more than 40 percent of his yards (188) have come after contact.

“He’s a big, powerful running back,” said Cal coach Sonny Dykes, whose Bears will face Freeman on Friday. “He’s a load to tackle and he moves around pretty good for a guy that’s got his size.”

“He’s big and he’s fast,” said Washington coach Chris Petersen, the previous coach to scheme against Freeman. “He certainly doesn’t play like a freshman.”

No, he doesn’t.

But he didn’t eat like a baby when he was a baby, he didn’t grow like an infant when he was an infant, and he didn’t carry the ball in high school like a high schooler.

So why at Oregon would he play like a freshman when he’s a freshman?

He's used to exceeding his hype.