Five years ago, Justin Gatlin spent part of his first year at college chasing teammate Leonard Scott. Since, Gatlin has gone on to become, along with Jamaican Asafa Powell, the world's premiere sprinter while Scott, after a short-lived stint in American football, is now playing catch up. But as he enters the third season of his comeback to the sport, Scott believes the chase may soon be over.

"I truly believe the way things are going," Scott said in a teleconference with reporters, "the roles are gonna turn back again."

After his victory in the 60 meters at the World Indoor Championships last month --a title won by Gatlin in 2003-- Scott is beginning to produce the deeds to back up those words.

Scott said he has no regrets about leaving track and pursuing football, his first love, in 2002. But when he was cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers, he didn't immediately think about a return to track. That came at the urging of his father during a visit soon after his brief football career came to an end.

"My dad came to see me and my dad said he wasn't going to let talent go to waste."

The elder Scott contacted the John Smith-led HSI training group in Los Angeles, Scott said, "and next thing I knew I was out here in California."

He arrived in California and literally started over. With just $100 in his pocket, he shared an apartment with hurdler Larry Wade until he got on his feet. The transition, Scott said, was a difficult one.

"It was a hard situation at first. I had to lose all that football weight, and I had to learn how to run because John Smith is so technical and what needs to be right. I had to learn all of that. So far, so good."

Smith told Scott that their relationship was of the long haul variety, and that the idea of instant success was nothing more than myth.

"That's what's going on now - things are slowly getting back."

He returned gradually In 2004, ending the year with 10.01 and 20.46 bests.

"I PRed in '04, I ran 10.01 in the Olympic Trials and I was excited about that. But you look at my career and I've always been able to do something crazy and not even put my all into it. I knew if I was able to do this full-time, the sky is the limit with me. In '04 it was basically, here I am, I'm back in the sport. In '05 I started coming into my own."

Last season his improvement continued after posting personal bests of 9.94 and 20.38. In the 100, he was the third fastest sprinter in the world, trailing only World record holder Powell and Gatlin, the World and Olympic champion. He reached the final in the short dash in Helsinki where he finished a noteworthy fifth and was third at the notoriously difficult U.S. championships.

His relationship with Smith has amounted to nothing less than a complete overhaul in terms of technique and training. Indeed, when watching him race, there is little in common with the Scott of 2002 with the new and improved version on the track today.

"If you see old pictures, my veins in my neck are popping out, my arms are going across my body. Nothing was in front of me as far as my legs ... I was carrying my legs, leaning over. That was hard on my hamstrings. John Smith just changed all that."

A strong starter, most of Scott's training sessions involve working out technical details along with strength endurance work, thus an early- season emphasis on the half-lap.

"That deuce is what helps you in the 100," said Scott, who won the event last weekend at the Kansas Relays in 20.48. "I truly believe that. With my weight, my strength and doing these deuces, the 100 is coming so easy to me now. Because I've got the start. I can get you out of the blocks. Now it's 'can you hold on?' I truly believe I can hold on, because I can do it in practice now."

Besides the race's technical aspects, Scott is also acquiring the skills needed in big meet competitions, critical details that led to his World title in Moscow.

"Even though I didn't run the times I wanted to run, I learned something, because it showed me, 'you're learning how to compete. You're learning how to compete when things aren't right for you,' " he said. "That way when the conditions are right, it should be a breeze. It helped me with my patience. That was a problem in the World Championships [outdoors] last year. I took off and I just died in the end. This year, I'm maturing."

Next up for Scott is the 4x100 relay at this weekend's Penn Relays and another 200 at the Modesto Relays on May 6. And after that, perhaps some very fast times.

"Every night before I go to sleep, I think ... I believe records are to be broken, and I know I can do it," he insists. "You can't set a goal for yourself and hesitate. You've got to know that you can do it. I believe 9.77 can be broken. I truly believe that 6.39 can be broken because my start I truly believe is the best in the world."