*** Honors Candidate***

Career: Forte has 2,070 career rushing yardsand 639 from receptions. He has started 17 career games, the mostamong running backs and third on the offense overall. He wears thesame jersey number – 22 -- as former Eagle Taiwan Jones (nowwith the Oakland Raiders).

2014: Listed as the starter at running back on thepreseason depth chart. He is one of 38 running backs in FCS on the2014 College Football Performance Awards Watch List. Was giventhird team preseason All-America honors from The Sports Network.College Sports Madness named him as a third team preseason All-BigSky pick.

2013: Earned third team All-Big Sky honors.Forte started 11 of the 14 games he played. His 1,208 rushing yardswere the eighth-most in school history and the 12th time in thelast 19 seasons EWU has had a 1,000-yard rusher. His 16 totaltouchdowns were the ninth-most all-time at EWU. Forte averaged 6.7yards per rush to help EWU average 5.3 yards per attempt –its best mark since averaging 6.4 in 2001. With 202 yards and atouchdown in EWU’s 41-17 win in the FCS Playoffs over SouthDakota State (12/7/13), Forte had the 25th performance in schoolhistory with 200 rushing yards or more, and shattered his previouscareer high of 123 set earlier in the 2013 season. He followed thatwith 190 yards against Jacksonville State (12/14/13) and 77 againstTowson (12/21/13), giving Forte 469 yards in EWU’s finalthree games of the season. Until the playoffs, Forte’sprevious best back-to-back games came in early November when he had123 and two touchdowns against Montana State (11/9/13) and 119rushing yards on just six carries (19.8 per rush) versus IdahoState (11/2/13). He had an 83-yard touchdown versus ISU that ranksas the ninth-longest rush in school history, and the longest sinceJones had a school-record 96-yarder at Idaho State on Oct. 3, 2009.As a result of his huge performances, he earned team offensiveplayer of the week honors following the 55-34 win over ISU and theromp over SDSU. He missed the Oregon State (8/3/13) game with ahamstring injury, but returned to rush for 99 yards against WesternOregon (9/7/13).  2012: Started four games,including three-straight from Oct. 6 to Oct. 20. He had aseason-high 116 rushing yards in the FCS Playoffs against IllinoisState (12/8/12). He also had 83 yards against Cal Poly (11/3/12)and caught five passes for 44 yards versus Portland State(11/17/12). He rushed for 32 yards and had a 33-yard touchdowncatch against Montana State (10/13/12) to earn team offensiveplayer of the week honors.

2011: He and fellow running back Jordan Talleywere the only true freshmen to play on offense in 2011. He made thefirst start of his Eastern career against Sacramento State(10/22/11) and responded with 87 yards rushing on 11 carries. Onegame earlier versus Northern Colorado (10/15/11), he rushed for 50yards and a touchdown on five carries, and caught three passes for69 yards. Forte also started versus Portland State (10/22/11) andscored a touchdown on a 30-yard pass against Cal Poly(11/12/11).

HS: Graduated from Vacaville HS in 2011. Hehelped lead his school to a 20-4 record during his final twoseasons, rushing for more than 2,300 yards and 30 touchdowns.Rushed for 1,248 yards and 15 touchdowns as a senior, averaging 8.3yards per rush. He also caught 14 passes for 191 yards (13.6 perreception) with one more touchdown. Also had 29 total tackles,three interceptions and averaged 27.6 yards per kickoff return ashe helped lead his team to a 10-2 record and a berth in the CIFSac-Joaquin Section Playoffs. He rushed for 197 yards and threescores on just nine carries (21.9 per rush) in the first game ofthe season, and had a 191-yard performance later in the year. As ajunior, he rushed for 1,094 yards and 15 touchdowns with an averageof 11.3 yards per carry. He caught 11 passes for 169 yards and twomore scores, and finished with 52 tackles, four interceptions and a30.8 average per kickoff return. Vacaville also finished 10-2 thatseason as well. He had career-best times of 22.50 in the 200 metersand 49.84 in the 400 in track and field at Vacaville.

Personal: Communication studies major. Born1/4/93 in Fairfield, Calif. His parents are Troy Forte and DebraRucker. Name is pronounced “for-tay.”

Kickoff Returns: 2011/6-116-19.3-0 (long of 23).

Top Rushing Performances
21 carries, 202 yards, 1 TD – South Dakota State –12/7/13
24 carries, 190 yards, 2 TD – Jacksonville St. -12/14/13
15 carries, 123 yards, 2 TD – Montana State –11/9/13
6 carries, 119 yards, 2 TD – Idaho State – 11/2/13
7 carries, 116 yards, 0 TD – Illinois State –12/8/12
13 carries, 99 yards, 0 TD – Western Oregon –9/7/13
15 carries, 83 yards, 0 TD – Cal Poly – 11/3/12
11 carries, 87 yards, 0 TD – Sacramento State –10/15/11