Through three games, Clemson has been more than pleased with what it has received from running back Wayne Gallman. The Tigers’ top back proved he is the No. 1 running back after rushing for 139 yards on 24 carries in last Thursday’s win at Louisville.

“He got hot the other night and we have kind of always said, if a guy gets hot we are going to feed him,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said on Monday.

Gallman has been hot a lot this season, and No. 10 Clemson has been feeding him the ball. In three games, the sophomore has rushed for 310 yards on 53 carries and has scored three touchdowns. He is averaging 5.8 yards per carry and has had one carry that went for negative yards and that was just a one-yard loss.

“I’m really, really pleased with what I see with Wayne and what we are able to do up front as well,” Swinney said.

But as good as Gallman has been, there has been very little production from the other running backs, in particular C.J. Davidson, who has received much of the second-team work. Davidson has averaged just 3.2 yards per carry and has just 48 yards on the young season.

Against Louisville, he carried the ball four times and gained nine yards. He had just 14 yards on six carries against App State the week before.

“Tony (Elliott) rolled with C.J. the other night, and I think, we have to give those other guys more of an opportunity and see how it shakes out behind Wayne,” Swinney said. “We will definitely do that.”

Those other guys are Zac Brooks, Tyshon Dye and C.J. Fuller. None of them carried the ball against the Cardinals, though Brooks averaged 6.6 yards per carry in the first two games and Fuller 4.0. Dye had two rushing touchdowns in the season opener against Wofford.

As expected quarterback Deshaun Watson became another option in the running game for Clemson. The sophomore rushed for 54 yards on 12 carries against Louisville, and now he stands second on the team in rushing yards with 93 overall.

Watson is averaging 4.0 yards per carry.

“He has to run, that’s what we do,” Swinney said. “He has to be able to make plays with his legs. We did not really need him in the first two games to make a lot of plays with his legs. He made some plays with his legs, but they were mostly in the passing game where he just extended plays.

“That’s what he has to do for us. For us to be at our best offensively, he has to be a factor.”

Swinney said Watson is a weapon and they don’t mind giving him the football in critical situations like they did in the fourth quarter of the Louisville game.

“You want to make sure the defenses have to defend him. We do not have to feature him or rely on him,” Swinney said. “But when we pick our spots for him, he is a threat. To not run him would be a major, major threat to take out of our game plan.”

Other notes… Swinney announced Clemson center Ryan Norton will not play against Notre Dame as he continues to recover from a knee injury he suffered in practice last week… Offensive tackle Jake Fruhmorgen has a sprained PCL in his knee but he is not expected to have surgery and he could be back at practice by next Monday…  Defensive end Chris Register is getting better and will be reevaluate next Monday. Defensive end Dane Rogers should practice this week. Swinney said this is a big week for him… Joe Gore is sore in regards to his ankle but he should be ready to go for the Notre Dame game… Speaking of Notre Dame, the game will kickoff at 8 p.m. and will be televised by ABC on Oct. 3… Swinney said kicker Ammon Lakip is back on the team, but Greg Huegel is the starting kicker. Lakip, however, will be competing to be the starter on kickoffs.