MINNEAPOLIS -- Minnesota has quite the 1-2-3 punch in its running game this season.The Gophers hit Colorado State with two of them all afternoon and completed nonconference play unbeaten.Rodney Smith rushed 17 times for 99 yards and two touchdowns and Shannon Brooks returned from injury to net 85 yards and a score on 13 carries, helping Minnesota wear down the Rams on the way to a 31-24 victory on Saturday.Theyre both awfully good, coach Tracy Claeys said of his sophomore tailback tandem, so it doesnt matter which way it ends up.Brooks, the teams leading rusher last season, missed the first two games because of a broken foot. Kobe McCrary, who piled up 176 yards rushing two weeks ago against Indiana State, rushed for 13 yards on four carries.They had fresh legs coming in all the time, Rams safety Jake Schlager said, adding, They definitely used it to their advantage.Factor in quarterback Mitch Leidner, who took off 10 times for 50 yards and a touchdown, and the Gophers (3-0) have their running game going just the way they want it entering Big Ten play.Leidner is looking as spry as ever after suffering foot injuries in each of the last two Septembers that hampered his sophomore and junior years. He made some cuts and jukes for extra yardage that made Brooks and Smith proud.Ive never been healthy coming out of the nonconference so it feels really good, said Leidner, who completed 16 of 20 passes for 174 yards .Freshman Collin Hill, making his second start at quarterback for the Rams (2-2), cut Colorado States deficit to seven points with a 15-yard toss to Michael Gallup with 6:24 remaining. The Gophers followed with a three-and-out, but Hills fourth-down pass at the Minnesota 45 around the 2-minute mark was broken up by Adekunle Ayinde to quash the comeback.The Rams, who started three different quarterbacks over the first three games, have come a long way since a 44-7 loss to Colorado in their opener.I believe were close to becoming a pretty good football team, coach Mike Bobo said.Leidners underthrow toward the sideline was intercepted near midfield by Braylin Scott in the final minute of the first half, but Wyatt Bryan missed a 46-yard field goal as the clock expired to preserve a 17-7 lead for the Gophers.THE TAKEAWAYMinnesota: The Gophers were far from flawless, particularly on defense while giving up 11 gains of 15-plus yards, but they did precisely what they needed to do by entering conference play unscathed.Colorado State: Hill finished 15 for 30 for 182 yards and one touchdown with an interception and a fumble that led to 14 points for Minnesota, after a sharp debut against FCS foe Northern Colorado. The experience playing at a Big Ten stadium ought to help his development.FINISHING STRONGEmmit Carpenter, who has not missed a kick this season, made a 28-yard field goal in the second quarter. Thats the only time in 14 trips inside the 20-yard line the Gophers havent crossed the goal line.Once you get down there, its tough to stop Rodney, Shannon and Kobe, Leidner said. Thats a lot of horsepower coming at you.FEELING THE PRESSURESteven Richardson, who had four of Minnesotas 14 tackles for loss, sacked Hill on the first play from scrimmage. Hill absorbed several hard hits on the afternoon, none more jarring than the sack by Taiyon Devers that knocked the ball loose and his helmet off to give the Gophers possession at the Colorado State 33.Devers, one of four true freshmen who played on defense, has forced a fumble on all three of his sacks just 2 1/2 games into his college career.Collin hadnt played any speed like that, Bobo said.UP NEXTColorado State: The Rams host Wyoming in their Mountain West opener for the Bronze Boot, the trophy that has gone to CSU for three straight years. This game is the only trip for the Rams outside of Colorado for the first six weeks of the season.Minnesota: The Gophers play their first Big Ten game at Penn State. Minnesota is 2-4 there all time, having last visited in 2009 and last won in 2003. Wholesale Womens Nike VaporMax Moc Flyknit Multi-Color Black/Volt/Hot Punch/Dark Grey AA4155-003 . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Wholesale Mens Nike Air Vapormax Plus Black/Red .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court. http://www.wholesalevapormaxplus.com/wholesale-men-s-nike-air-vapormax-plus-kpu-fire-red-white-black.html . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Wholesale Mens Acronym x Nike VaporMax Moc 2 Johnnys Ice Passage Light Bone-Black AQ0996-001 . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. Wholesale Womens Nike Air VaporMax Flyknit Moc Dark Stucco/Clay Green AA4155-013 .J. Ellis hit two-run homers and the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the San Diego Padres 4-0 Saturday night. RALEIGH, N.C. -- The chlorination and filtration systems at an artificial water rapids course where Olympic kayakers train were inadequate to kill a rare, brain-attacking organism, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said after an Ohio teenager died from the amoeba.The rushing water channels at the U.S. National Whitewater Center had become so murky with debris that the chlorine and ultraviolet light that might have killed the Naegleria fowleri amoeba didnt work, Dr. Michael Beach said Friday.Its kind of a murky water, said Beach, the CDCs associate director for healthy water. Speaking by phone, Beach wouldnt comment on whether a more effective system could have saved the life of Lauren Seitz, 18, of Westerville, Ohio.The whitewater center closed its whitewater rafting and kayaking operations on June 24. The fast-water channels will be drained, dried and scrubbed to kill any vestiges of the amoeba, the non-profit said on its web site. The website didnt indicate when the rapids course might reopen. A spokesman for the center declined to comment Friday on the CDC findings.Seitz died June 19, just three weeks after graduating from high school and more than a week after returning home to suburban Columbus, Ohio, from a church group trip that included a visit to the whitewater center about 15 miles west of Charlotte. Her only known underwater exposure was thought to be when her raft overturned at the whitewater center.The center held Olympic qualifying trials for U.S. canoe and kayak competitors in April and also hosted the qualifying races before the 2012 and 2008 Olympics, said Aaron Mann, a spokesman for USA Canoe/Kayak. American Olympians havent used the Charlotte course in recent weeks because theyve been competing in Europe ahead of a training camp in France leading up to the Rio de Janeiro games, he said.The amoeba is very common in lakes and other kinds of warm, fresh water, yet its very rare that it will make anyone sick, said Dr. Thomas Kerkering, chief of infectious diseases cat Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke, Virginia. The amoeba wont infect a person who drinks or swallows water containing it, aand must enter the body through the nose to cause harm.ddddddddddddhere most people get it is when they wipe out waterskiing and the water goes up their nose, Kerkering said.The odds that the organism will cause the dangerous, brain-eating disease are just about chance, Kerkering said, since some people jumping into the water might contract the illness while most others dont.Only 138 people nationwide have been stricken by the disease between 1962 and 2015, according to the CDC. Florida and Texas have had the most cases with 34 each in that time. North Carolina had four cases prior to Seitz, none of them involving the whitewater center, while Ohio is one of 32 states without a recorded case over the five-decade span. All five cases last year were fatal. They were in California, Oklahoma, Arizona, and two in Texas. The most recent was in Texas last August.Initial symptoms showing up on average five days after exposure may include headache, fever or vomiting and worsen to include stiff neck, confusion, seizures and hallucinations.The deadly amoeba was found in all 11 water samples taken from the National Whitewater Centers fast-flowing whitewater channel, said Dr. Stephen Keener, Mecklenburg Countys medical director. Four samples from the neighboring Catawba River didnt find the organism, but it was found in one sample of the rivers sediment, Keener said Thursday.Water for the centers courses comes from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg municipal system, two water wells and rain, the operator said.Seitz planned to study music and environmental science at Denison University in Ohio, according to an obituary posted by the funeral home handling arrangements. A celebration of her life is scheduled Saturday. Her family didnt return a telephone call seeking comment.---Follow Emery P. Dalesio at http://twitter.com/emerydalesio. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/emery-p-dalesio.---This story has been corrected to show that only 138 people were stricken by the disease over a five-decade span, not six decades. ' ' '