EDMONTON -- After three months of hard running, Chuba Hubbard is back home.
The Sherwood Park native returned to Alberta this week, getting some rest after a season that saw him lead all of U.S. college football in rushing.
“I never would have pictured myself being in this situation," said Hubbard. "I dreamed of it, but it’s just a blessing to be here."
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Hubbard, 20, spoke to reporters at Oilers practice Friday morning ahead of dropping the ceremonial first puck at what will be his first in-person Oilers game when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.
"I’ve watched plenty of Oilers games but I’ve never had the chance [to go],” said Hubbard who says he was "crazy" Oilers fan during the team's 2006 run to the Stanley Cup final.
"I wanted to see them then really bad."
Hockey aside, Hubbard returns home with a lot to think about.
The Oklahoma State star runner is weighing a potential jump to the National Football League and a potentially life-changing initial pay check that would come with it, against returning to a school he's embraced and a competition he's shown he can dominate.
"I'm on a great team," he said of the Cowboys. "I've got people who help me along the way."
But, if it's a decision he's made, it's one he's not ready to share just yet.
“It’s kind of premature all the NFL draft stuff. I’m just taking it day by day and seeing where it goes from there.”
BREAKOUT SEASON
After showing flashes of potential in limited playing time near the end of last season, Hubbard broke out this year, leading the country in rushing despite playing one fewer game than other leading rushers.
"When I came in I was at the bottom of the depth chart but I kept working,” Hubbard said.
He earned the nickname "Canada's Cowboy" as well as social media endorsements from Wayne Gretzky, the Edmonton Oilers and Howie Mandel.
He became the fourth ever Canadian (and first since 1995) to receive votes for the Heisman Trophy, awarded to college football's most outstanding player.
"He's a heck of a player," said former Michigan running back and 1995 Heisman candidate Tim Biakabutuka.
“A fellow Canadian … that’s awesome.”
Hubbard sat out his first year at Oklahoma State meaning he's now three years removed from high school and eligible for the NFL draft.
"Chuba's got to make a decision based on him and his family," Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy told Oklahoma State's website.
Several NFL draft analysts have pegged Hubbard as likely being selected between the third and fifth round of the draft should he elect to enter.
"He's only played in 14 games in his career. He's probably 10 or 12 games from maybe elevating himself into the latter part of the first round or second round which is three time the money of a fourth round pick," said Gundy.
Some have speculated Hubbard's decision to play in the Cowboys post-season bowl game in Houston next week is a clue he'll be back for one more year.
"Just to finish the season with my teammates," he told the team's website about playing in the Dec. 27 Texas Bowl against Texas A&M.
"I feel like I wouldn't be that team guy if I held back."
While it's a decision he's not ready to announce yet, it's one he'll have to share within the next month.
Hubbard has until Jan. 20 to declare for the 2020 NFL draft.
