HARRISONBURG — Khalid Abdullah used James Madison’s bye week to prepare himself for the final stretch run of his college career.

“I rested, slept and went in for treatment,” Abdullah said. “I want to be as healthy and as close to 100 percent as possible.”

James Madison begins its final four weeks of the regular season Saturday at Bridgeforth Stadium against Rhode Island. The Dukes will travel to Richmond and Villanova before closing out the year in Harrisonburg against Elon on Nov. 19.

The senior running back said the off week couldn’t have come at a better time for him.

In the first seven games of the season, Abdullah was the workhorse for Madison’s run-powered offense.

Abdullah has accounted for nearly one-third of JMU’s total rushing attempts this year (115 carries) and is on-pace for more carries this fall than he had in any of his three previous seasons at the school.

If JMU plays more than one game in the FCS playoffs, he’ll easily crack the 200-carry mark for the year.

The Newport News native is third nationally across FCS with 854 rushing yards. His 11 rushing touchdowns is the fourth most and his 7.43 yards per carry average is fifth-best.

“As time wears on, these games just get harder and harder,” Abdullah said. “But that’s why I get in the treatment room. I want to be as durable as I can as a player. Durability goes a long way and to this point I’ve been durable, so I’m just trying to stay in the treatment room and stay healthy.”

Madison’s coaching staff is well aware of how many touches Abdullah and co-starter Cardon Johnson have racked up already.

Johnson, a junior, has rushed for 630 yards and six touchdowns on 103 attempts.

Throughout the bye week, non-starters were given more reps in practice by the coaching staff.

Offensive coordinator Donnie Kirkpatrick said both third- and fourth-string running backs Trai Sharp and Taylor Woods took advantage of their extra opportunities.

“I think Trai Sharp is starting to show up at running back a little more,” Kirkpatrick said. “We’re going to try to get him in there. We’re trying to find him a role. We have a couple of formations where he’ll go and he’ll know those are his plays to get in there.”

The move to get Sharp and Woods more involved in the game plan is also an effort to keep Abdullah and Johnson as fresh as possible as JMU nears the postseason.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Kirkpatrick said. “They’ve had such a good year, so we’ve rode them hard, and when you go to see how many carries they’ve had and how many blocks they’ve had to make, you know that there’s a limit with how much a guy can do.

“Then you get the [bye] week to look at it and you say ‘Wow, Trai and Taylor really did well when they got in games, they deserve to play.’ They’re practicing well and when they’ve gotten in the game, they’ve played well. Then it would also be a good thing to rest Khalid and Cardon a little bit.”

Sharp has 202 rushing yards and a touchdown on 36 carries and Woods has 112 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries.