<table> </table> COLUMBIA | Brenda Lloyd might have initially delivered the sermon when son Jimmy Jackson was 15. Or when he was 12. Or when Jackson was a precocious 5-year-old who, like most 5-year-olds, figured life pretty much revolved around him.</p><p>What Jackson remembers is that his mom delivered chapter and verse, early and often: Don&#8217;t whine. Don&#8217;t pout.</p><p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t complain,&#8221; Jackson remembers her saying. &#8220;Be a man.&#8221;</p><p>Career backup Jimmy Jackson is in his final year as a tailback for Missouri. He could whine. He could pout. He could complain about playing behind sophomore Derrick Washington.</p><p>Sure, Washington gains 7.3 yards every time he tucks a football under his arm and heads downfield.</p><p>So does Jimmy Jackson.</p><p>Sure, Derrick Washington has scored four touchdowns rushing in No. 6 Mizzou&#8217;s 2-0 start.</p><p>Last year, Jimmy Jackson scored seven touchdowns rushing, second-most on the team. He played in all 14 games of Missouri&#8217;s 12-2 season, and he even started games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech.</p><p>But Jimmy Jackson just smiles a very genuine smile. He does what he can, which might be enough for him to start on other Big 12 Conference teams.</p><p>&#8220;Ultimate team player, Jimmy Jackson,&#8221; said Missouri coach Gary Pinkel. &#8220;He wants to win.</p><p>&#8220;Obviously, he&#8217;d like to carry the ball every down.&#8221;</p><p>That he doesn&#8217;t?</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s not a problem with him,&#8221; Pinkel said.</p><p>&#8220;Jimmy Jackson is the grandpa of the tailbacks. He knows everything about that position. He&#8217;s out there helping all those guys. He did it with Derrick Washington a year ago.</p><p>&#8220;You can win with people like that. By the way, he&#8217;s a really good football player. He&#8217;s a really good, high-level Big 12 football player.&#8221;</p><p>Jimmy Jackson has always known that. But there&#8217;s no chip on his shoulder. Few people, if any, have ever heard him utter a discouraging word.</p><p>No matter that in 40 games in his college football career, Jackson has wound up playing behind:</p><p>&#8226;Tony Temple and Marcus Woods in 2005, despite averaging 4.9 yards a rush.</p><p>&#8226;Temple in 2006, when Jackson got 32 carries to Temple&#8217;s 193.</p><p>&#8226;Temple in 2007, when wide receiver Jeremy Maclin had almost as many rushes (51) as Jackson (67).</p><p>And now, with Temple gone, in what some figured would be Jackson&#8217;s year, there is Washington, a rising star with Jackson, on second fiddle, picking out harmony.</p><p>&#8220;My hat&#8217;s off to Derrick,&#8221; Jackson said when asked if that was hard to accept. &#8220;He&#8217;s a great player. He&#8217;s making plays and I&#8217;m fine with that.&#8221;</p><p>Really?</p><p>&#8220;Really,&#8221; Jackson said.</p><p>&#8220;If you want to be a great team, you&#8217;ve got to be unselfish. You can&#8217;t be selfish and win a lot of games.</p><p>&#8220;I love my teammates. I love my fellow running backs. They&#8217;re all good players. I love seeing them having a good time, making plays.&#8221;</p><p>In high school at Caruthersville, Mo., Jimmy Jackson was first chair, first in line, at the front of the bus, his name topping the bill. He was The Man.</p><p>He ran for 2,642 yards and scored 26 touchdowns as a senior. He also caught nine touchdown passes and gained 340 yards receiving.</p><p>He was his team&#8217;s MVP, All-Conference, All-Region, All-State.</p><p>Caruthersville is in Missouri&#8217;s Boot Heel, closer to the University of Arkansas than the University of Missouri.</p><p>The Razorbacks offered. So did Illinois. Jackson chose the Tigers. He redshirted in 2004, but since has played in 39 of Missouri&#8217;s last 40 games.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m old,&#8221; Jackson said upon hearing Pinkel&#8217;s reference to him being the grandpa of the tailbacks at MU. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been here five years. I <em>am</em> old.&#8221;</p><p>Then Jimmy Jackson laughed.</p><p>He looked across the room to Derrick Washington, loudly holding court amidst a gaggle of reporters.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a little talkative,&#8221; Jackson said. And he laughed.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a funny guy,&#8221; Jackson said. And he laughed.</p><p>&#8220;You&#8217;ve got to enjoy yourself out here,&#8221; Jackson said.</p><p>And of course he smiled, then laughed again.</p><p>&#8220;I am enjoying myself,&#8221; Jackson said. &#8220;It&#8217;s my last round. I&#8217;m a senior. And yeah, I have enjoyed it.&#8221;