PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley wanted to be a student in team history before he had a chance to make some with the Eagles.
The running back who had just signed with Philadelphia for $26 million guaranteed took a deep dive on some of the franchise’s greats out of the backfield.
He learned about Wilbert Montgomery. Brushed up on LeSean McCoy.
Barkley then put them in his sights — and this week against Carolina, he could become the top single-season rusher in Eagles history.
Get past those two Eagles Hall of Famers and the target narrows: McCoy has a chance to break Eric Dickerson's NFL single-season rushing mark of 2,105 yards, set in 1984.
“That's your goal,” Barkley said. “You want to come in here, you want to leave a legacy on a place, on a franchise.”
Here's where things stand with Barkley in his pursuit of records:
— Barkley has an NFL-best 1,499 yards rushing through 12 games, an average of 124.9 yards per game. At that pace and with one more game to play than Dickerson, he would surpass the NFL mark that's stood for 40 years.
— Barkley needs to run for 108 yards against the Panthers to break McCoy's Eagles record of 1,607 yards set in 2013. Montgomery ran for 1,512 yards in 1978.
“I'm aware of the things I can accomplish,” Barkley said. “The way I accomplish that is sticking to the script.”
The Eagles (10-2) have won eight straight to take control of the NFC East and remain in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the conference. Barkley — with a little help from Jalen Hurts — has largely led the way and moved into MVP consideration. The former New York Giant also ranks third in the league with 11 rushing touchdowns.
It's reasonable to expect Barkley to pile on the yards against Carolina (3-9).
The Panthers are 32nd in the league against the run and just allowed Tampa Bay's Bucky Irving to run for a career-high 152 yards last week (he had never broken 100).
“It’s incredible what he is doing. The record has stood up for a while. I mean 17 games or 14 games, it’s ridiculous,” Panthers defensive lineman Shy Tuttle said. “It’s a record that has been held for a long time and whoever breaks it, Saquon or someone else, it’s an incredible achievement.”
Barkley leads the NFL with four rushing touchdowns of 25-plus yards this season and tied Montgomery for the most 100-yards games in an Eagles season with eight.
“You get to see the player on Sundays. We get to see the person every other day during the week,” offensive coordinator Kellen Moore said. “He’s special. At the end of the day, he’s a special teammate, special person. The way he connects with everyone, rallies everyone together. He’s one of the best.”
Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard is eager to get back on the field and put last week behind him.
Carolina’s leading rusher had a costly fumble in overtime last Sunday against Tampa Bay as the Panthers were driving for a potential game-winning field goal, resulting in a 26-23 loss to division rival Tampa Bay.
A dejected Hubbard remained on the bench for several minutes after the loss.
“You definitely use it as motivation,” Hubbard said. “I have come a long way and I know what it’s like to play great football. That was a big mistake on my end, but I don’t just lose all of the work I have put in because of that one mistake.”
Bryce Young is beginning to show he can be a factor with his legs, scoring on a 10-yard run last week against the Buccaneers.
However, Young still receives plenty of good-natured ribbing from his teammates when it comes to his sliding ability, which the QB has previously admitted is limited because he wasn’t much of a baseball player.
“He definitely has to work on his slide,” Hubbard said. “He has been making people miss so he hasn’t had to slide like that a lot. I mean I’m not trying to hate on my dog’s slide but it’s just a work in progress. He will be all right.”
Panthers guard Robert Hunt said it’s always interesting playing in Philadelphia because of the team’s passionate fan base.
Last year, while Hunt was playing for the Dolphins, he said an Eagles fan attempted to board the Miami team bus.
“They have some characters there — some people who don’t really give a damn,” Hunt said. “He was trying to trash-talk us. But he was confident and that is what makes them them.”
Hunt said the fan never made it on the bus.
“Aw hell no, we would have stomped that boy,” Hunt said with a laugh. “He tried. He was talking his noise. Good for him. I don’t want to say you want a fan base like that, but you want a fan base that cares about the team.”
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AP Sports Writer Steve Reed in Charlotte, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
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