Rams' Gurley Sets Record for Rushing Yards Through 4 Starts

St. Louis Rams rookie running back Todd Gurley finished Sunday's 27-6 win over the San Francisco 49ers with 575 rushing yards on the season and 566 in his four starts, breaking Billy Sims' record of 539 yards for the highest rushing total in the first four starts of a career, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com.

Gurley finished the contest with 133 yards on 20 carries, including a 71-yard touchdown run to help the Rams come away with an easy 27-6 victory. He also became the first rookie since at least 1932 to rush for 125 or more yards in each of his first four starts, per NFL Network.

A strong college career at the University of Georgia ended when Gurley went down with an ACL tear in November of his junior year, finishing with 3,285 yards and 36 touchdowns in three seasons. Despite the injury, Gurley displayed enough talent to make him the 10th overall pick of the 2015 NFL draft.

Held out for the first two weeks of the season, Gurley eased into action during his NFL debut in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, getting just six carries for nine yards and one reception for five yards.

The reins were taken off the very next week, with Gurley racking up 146 yards on 19 carries in a surprising road win over the Arizona Cardinals. He subsequently had 30 carries for 159 yards in a Week 5 loss to the Green Bay Packers, followed by a 19 carries for 128 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 7 win over the Cleveland Browns.

The 4-3 Rams have won three of four games since Gurley became the starter, leaving them 1.5 games back of the Cardinals in the NFC West and just one game back of the Minnesota Vikings for the second wild-card spot in the NFC.

St. Louis can take hold of that spot with a win over the Vikings on Sunday, but Gurley won't be the only star running back with a say in the outcome.