Freshman Back Chases History at Occidental : Football: Gary Little is following the trail blazed by several accomplished alumni.

Jim Mora, the coach of the New Orleans Saints, running back Vance Mueller of the Raiders, and Jack Kemp, a former pro quarterback who is now Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, all once donned the black, white and orange of the Occidental College football team.

Gary Little knows the names of those celebrated alumni but not much else about Tiger history, which dates to 1900 when Oxy fielded its first team.

“I’m a freshman,” he says by way of explanation.

But, if he can continue at his current pace, Little may add to the tradition by surpassing Mueller--who ran for 2,974 yards from 1984-87--as Occidental’s most productive runner.

Although he has been Occidental’s starting tailback for only five games, Little ranks third in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with 726 rushing yards. He already has eclipsed Mueller’s freshman rushing total of 611 yards and still has two games left, including Saturday night’s game against Redlands.

Occidental had presented a solid running game in Coach Dale Widolff’s previous seven seasons with the Tigers, but Little’s breakaway speed has provided the traditionally conservative attack with a welcome dose of excitement.

Little, 5-foot-9 and 171 pounds, has four runs of 40 yards or more, including a 76-yard scoring jaunt three weeks ago in a 23-17 victory over previously unbeaten University of San Diego.

“In the past, Oxy has been, ‘Grind it up, just three yards a shot,’ ” Occidental senior guard Roger Laubengayer said. “With Gary back there, it makes you feel better that you don’t always have to grind it out and run 27 plays to score a touchdown.”

Widolff is pleased, if somewhat surprised, at the success Little is enjoying. He has seen too many college running backs start out quickly, only to slow markedly as they’re subjected to weekly poundings.

“I think the jury is still out,” Widolff said. “Obviously, he’s (Little) got us excited. But I’m more of a wait-and-see guy.”

Said George White, who coached Little at Galileo High in San Francisco: “His potential was just starting to show. What’s he going to be (like) in two years when that potential really starts coming out?”

Little, who won’t turn 18 until March, showed flashes of his speed and elusiveness during fall practice but was hampered by physical problems and his unfamiliarity with the system. He missed Occidental’s opener against Menlo because of a shoulder injury and had only five carries for 10 yards in a reserve role against Azusa Pacific.

However, a good week of practice and injuries that slowed senior Kevin Vegas and sophomore Steve McClaskey propelled Little into the starting lineup for the Tigers’ SCIAC opener against Pomona-Pitzer. Little responded by rushing for 216 yards in 25 carries as Occidental beat the Sagehens, 24-14.

“It’s all confidence,” Little said. “The more confidence you have, the better you feel. You don’t second-guess yourself about which way you’re going to run. You just pick and go.”

Little gained 118 yards the next week in a win over La Verne, then had his best game of the season against San Diego, rushing for a school-record 263 yards in 31 carries.

Two weeks ago against Claremont, Little ran into a defense designed specifically to contain him. But the emphasis on stopping the run opened up the passing game and Occidental routed the Stags, 44-14. Little gained just 68 yards but had several key short runs for first downs.

“The thing that has been surprising isn’t so much the spectacular, which everyone sees, but the way he’s able to turn a four-yard run into a six-yard gain with second effort and by leaning forward when he’s going down,” Widolff says. “He’s never really taken a direct hit because he’s so elusive.”

Galileo High has produced several such runners, including O. J. Simpson. But Little can’t get juiced about his own accomplishments.

“I wasn’t an outstanding running back in high school,” he says. Just good enough to gain more than 900 yards on a pass-oriented team that went 12-0 his senior year and won the Academic Athletic Assn. championship.

His high school coach, a running back for Occidental in the 1950s and father of Occidental cornerback Ben White, suggested that Little check out his alma mater.

Little, who was recruited by Stanford and Yale, was skeptical.

“I didn’t know L. A. could be like this,” Little says in reference to the quiet, tree-lined Occidental campus. “I thought it was a hustle and bustle kind of thing.

“They were saying the school was 10 minutes from downtown and I didn’t want to go to a school in the middle of the city. I wanted a school in a nice residential area.”

Now that Little has found a home at Occidental, he’s hoping to find a permanent place in the school’s record book.

“One of my goals is to get 1,000 yards in a season, but that may be hard now,” Little says. “I’d be happier if we get a chance to go to the playoffs while I’m here and win the (Amos Alonzo) Stagg Bowl (the Division III championship game).

“That would be a good way to go down in history.”