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Faulk was heavily recruited by several major colleges, but due to his standout performance on defense, most of them recruited him to play the cornerback position. However, Faulk strongly desired to play the running back position in college. "I didn't love playing cornerback, so I knew I wouldn't be as successful in that position," Faulk told ''[[Sports Illustrated Kids]]''. "You have to really love what you do to be a star." Ultimately he accepted an athletic scholarship to attend [[San Diego State University]], because they were the first team to offer him a scholarship to play running back.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://allstatesugarbowl.org/sports/2022/5/3/marshall-faulk-greater-new-orleans-sports-hall-of-fame.aspx | title=Marshall Faulk – Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://voiceofsandiego.org/2009/02/24/how-marshall-faulk-became-an-aztec/ | title=How Marshall Faulk Became an Aztec | date=February 24, 2009 }}</ref>
One of the best performances of his career was against the [[Pacific Tigers football|University of the Pacific]] on September 14, 1991, in just his second collegiate game. In 37 carries, he amassed 386 yards and scored seven touchdowns, both records for freshmen (the 386 yards were a then-NCAA record). "Faulk had scoring runs of 61, 7, 47, 9, 5, 8 and 25 yards."<ref>{{cite news | url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19910915&slug=1305504 | title=Aztec Runs For Record 386 Yards – San Diego State's Faulk, A Freshman, Gets 7 TDs | date=September 15, 1991 | agency=Associated Press | work=The Seattle Times | access-date=January 17, 2021}}</ref> That performance sparked one of the greatest freshman seasons in [[National Collegiate Athletic Association|NCAA]] history, gaining 1,429 yards rushing, with 1,630 total yards froom scrimmage, 23 total touchdowns (21 rushing), and 140 points scored. At the end of the year, Faulk joined [[Tony Dorsett]] and [[Herschel Walker]] as one of just three true freshmen ever selected to the [[College Football All-America Team]] by the Associated Press.<ref>https://vault.si.com/vault/1992/08/31/best-runner-bursting-upon-the-scene-six-months-out-of-high-school-san-diego-states-marshall-faulk-rewrote-the-ncaa-record-book</ref>
Faulk went on to better 1,600 yards rushing in his sophomore year. In Faulk's junior season in 1993, he was finally able to showcase his all-purpose ability by catching 47 passes for 640 yards and 3 touchdowns to go with 1,530 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground. These numbers put Faulk 3rd in the nation in all-purpose yardage that year, and 2nd in scoring. Faulk left San Diego State University with many of the school's offensive records, among them 5,562 all-purpose yards and 62 career touchdowns, which is the 8th most in NCAA history.<ref name="NYTimes 94 Combine">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/14/sports/pro-football-faulk-shrugs-off-poking-and-testing-at-combine.html | title=Faulk Shrugs Off Poking And Testing at Combine | first=Frank | last=Litsky | date=February 14, 1994 | newspaper=The New York Times | access-date=April 17, 2009}}</ref> After his 1992 season at SDSU, Faulk finished second in the [[Heisman Trophy]] award voting, losing to quarterback [[Gino Torretta]] in what was considered a notable snub in the history of the award.<ref name=UTFaulksnub>Mick McGrane2, [http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2009/feb/18/1s18faulk222115-rb-faulk-heisman-snub-fueled-fire-/ For RB Faulk, Heisman snub 'fueled the fire' of his career], ''San Diego Union-Tribune'', February 18, 2009, accessed January 15, 2013.</ref> Torretta's [[1992 Miami Hurricanes football team]] was undefeated in the regular season and ranked No. 1 in the country before the Heisman balloting, Faulk's team finished with a middling 5–5–1 record, continuing a trend of the Heisman going to the most notable player on one of the nation's best teams. ESPN analyst [[Lee Corso]] led a campaign supporting Torretta for the Heisman and left Marshall Faulk off of his ballot.<ref name=SunSent>{{cite news|last=Mell|first=Randall|title=HEISMAN RACE DOWN TO THREE|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1992-11-13-9202290382-story.html|work=South Florida Sun Sentinel|access-date=August 5, 2019}}</ref> Faulk was a Heisman finalist as well in 1991 (9th) and 1993 (4th).<ref name=SR1991>[https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1991.html 1991 Heisman Trophy Voting], Sports Reference LLC, accessed January 15, 2013.</ref><ref name=SR1993>[https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/awards/heisman-1993.html 1993 Heisman Trophy Voting], Sports Reference LLC, accessed January 15, 2013.</ref>
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