For defending national champion Florida State, the 2014 regular season is one-third of the way over. Despite being battle-tested, the Seminoles are 4-0 and still ranked #1 in the AP Poll.

Florida State has fought through adversity this season on the field and off, but a player who has always seemed to be a calm during the storm for the Seminoles has performed better than ever during the early parts of the season.

Prior to the 2014 campaign even beginning, wide receiver Rashad Greene was already one of the best ever to play the position at Florida State. Greene entered the season as one of only three Seminoles ever to lead the team in receiving in three straight seasons and stood just 1,134 yards shy of tying Ron Sellers’ career receiving record at Florida State.

Greene had not only been good for Florida State, but he had always proven clutch. As a freshman in 2011, Greene’s fourth quarter touchdown catch against Notre Dame in the Champs Sports Bowl turned out to the game-winner in a season-salvaging victory for the Seminoles.

His 39-yard catch and run for a score in the final minute of a Thursday night game against Virginia Tech in 2012 preserved Florida State’s ACC title hopes — a title it would eventually win.

In the BCS National Championship against Auburn in January, it was Greene’s 49-yard catch and run that put the Seminoles in position to win the title and end the SEC’s stranglehold on the BCS.

Despite all of his accomplishments, Greene has always been quick to downplay his personal numbers. “What’s most important is my team and going out there and winning,” Greene said after last season’s victory over N.C. State. “The individual stuff will take care of itself.”

Through the early parts of 2014, no individual has shined brighter than the senior wide receiver. The leader of an inexperienced receiving corps, Greene has easily been Florida State’s best player.

In four games, Greene already has 35 receptions for 543 yards, which ranks fifth in the nation.

Despite being quarterbacked by a reigning Heisman Trophy winner in Jameis Winston, whose leadership seems to come as naturally as his pocket presence, the Seminoles in 2014 might just be Rashad Greene’s team.

With Winston suspended for Florida State’s ACC opener against Clemson, the usually mild-mannered Greene took it upon himself to address the team in the locker room at halftime as FSU trailed the Tigers 10-3.

The team would respond by rallying for a 23-17 overtime victory, but the biggest offensive play of the night belonged to Greene.

With the Seminoles trailing 17-10 with just over six minutes to play and facing a 2nd-and-24 from their own 26-yard-line, Greene was able to blow past a Clemson defender and score on a 74-yard touchdown reception — the longest of his career.

Greene’s career-long reception was one of only three touchdowns for the senior so far this season, but all have been one of the words to best describe the FSU receiver — clutch.

With Florida State clinging to a 30-24 lead against Oklahoma State in the season-opener, Greene hauled in a pass from Winston and raced 50 yards for the score to help the Seminoles put away the Cowboys.

In FSU’s first true road game against N.C. State on Saturday, Florida State trailed 24-7 early, but thanks to 11 receptions and 125 yards by Greene, the Seminoles clawed their way back into the contest. Greene’s only touchdown of the day came late in the third quarter and put Florida State ahead for good.

Greene is rarely flashy and is not unusually large in size for a wide receiver. He doesn’t carry a larger than life persona and he doesn’t have the natural charisma of someone like a Jameis Winston, but Greene has been the model of consistency during his Florida State career and has put the team on his back during the early parts of 2014.

“Rashad is steady Eddie man”, said Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher of his talented receiver. “He’s so smooth, you don’t realize how fast he is. He’s so consistent, you don’t realize how good he is.”

As the Seminoles continue to remain unblemished on their quest for a second straight national championship, others are starting to take notice. Greene has not only been the go-to guy in the clutch for the Florida State offense, but he has also been arguably Florida State’s best special teams player.

What Greene is to do over the final eight games and perhaps the ACC Championship remains to be seen, but when pundits and analysts talk about the Heisman Trophy, they often refer to the need for a “Heisman moment”. Rashad Greene already has three.