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Rex Brown

Clemson’s C.J. Spiller gallops into the open field leaving Miami’s Darryl Sharpton in his wake during the Tigers’ win last Saturday at Land Shark Stadium in Miami, Fla.

CLEMSON — When Clemson launched a campaign touting C.J. Spiller for the Heisman Trophy prior to the season, some scoffed at the notion and most considered it a long shot at best.

And when the Tigers stumbled out to a 2-3 start, through no fault of his own, Spiller’s candidacy appeared to have been a short-lived one.

But after a duo of dazzling displays in back-to-back wins — the most recent a 40-37 overtime upset at then-No. 8 Miami led by a school-record 310 all-purpose yards from Spiller — he’s not only back in the running, some members of the national media are calling him the frontrunner.

ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr. called Spiller “the top guy for the Heisman right now,” during an online chat Wednesday and followed that up on Thursday by referring to him as “a big-time difference-maker” and “maybe the best player in college football so far this season,” on the network’s flagship program, SportsCenter.

And Kiper isn’t the only one.

CBSSports.com currently ranks Spiller fourth among its ‘Heisman Hopefuls,’ as does SI.com’s Gene Melendez, who writes, “He is 2005 Reggie Bush Lite, without the hype.”

But while Spiller, the nation’s leader in all-purpose yardage, has clearly emerged as a surprise contender for the award, count Clemson coach Dabo Swinney among those less than shocked by the development.

“Part of the national media stuff is maybe people haven’t seen us on TV or things like that, but if we sent out a highlight reel and they sat down and took all the highlight reels of all these other people that everybody wants to throw out there, unless they’ve got blinders on their opinion would change real quick,” Swinney said.

Spiller himself, who deflected the Heisman hype for some time, now seems to have turned the corner — as he does so well with the ball in his hands — and is actually enjoying the recognition.

“I have all the faith in the world in my ability and in my team, so I’m not going to shy away from the opportunity or sit here and act like it’s not important to me,” Spiller said. “Because it is very important, not only to me but to my team. … Each week, I try to go out and prove that I’m the best player in the country.”

And he’s done a great job of that recently.

Spiller rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns, including a 66-yard burst, in a 38-3 rout over Wake Forest two weeks ago.

He backed that up with a performance that launched him fully back into the Heisman spotlight at Miami, which featured a 90-yard kickoff return right before halftime and a 56-yard touchdown catch where he blew by a Hurricane defender down the sideline.

“When he hits that gear, it’s over,” Swinney said. “When he hit the sideline the other night, he looked like Secretariat coming down the homestretch. I mean, these guys are on full scholarship, highly recruited people, and he just separates himself.”

Spiller has a play of at least 60 yards in each of the Tigers’ seven games this season, a streak he even admits to being impressed with, and needs just one more kickoff return touchdown to set an all-time NCAA career record.

“I don’t know what he’s going to do the rest of the year, but if he doesn’t play another snap the rest of the year, this guy ought to be in New York, to me,” Swinney said.

And as Clemson (4-3, 3-2 ACC) gets set to host Coastal Carolina for Homecoming on Saturday, Spiller’s close friend and teammate Jacoby Ford — who caught the game-winning 26-yard touchdown in overtime against Miami — said he thinks the Heisman talk is just getting started.

“He can just do a lot of things I don’t think anybody out there in the country can do, so he’s definitely been overlooked, but I think now he’s really going to start getting the recognition that he should’ve been getting pretty much all year,” Ford said.

Spiller has already broken the ACC mark for all-purpose yardage and become the league's first player to surpass 6,000 yards.

With just 127 all-purpose yards per game the rest of this season — he's currently averaging 208 — he’ll join DeAngelo Williams of Memphis (7,573), Ricky Williams of Texas (7,206) and Napoleon McCallum of Navy (7,172) as the only players in NCAA history with more than 7,000.

And while he’s certainly set a blistering pace, Spiller thinks his best football of the season is yet to come.

“I like my chances,” Spiller said. “When we first started, I told everyone my goal was to win it. If you’re a competitor, that’s not being cocky. That’s just having confidence in your ability and your team.”

And while there’s been plenty of Heisman talk surrounding the senior speedster of late, his coach was quick to point out that none of it has been generated by Spiller himself.

“If we can have the type of team success that we need, then certainly that would help him in that regard,” Swinney said. “But I can promise you this: that’s not C.J. Spiller’s focus. Not one time has he ever mentioned the words Heisman Trophy to me. Not once. All he cares about is winning.”

— The Associated Press also contributed to this report.