Head coach Jim Mora wouldn’t commit to a true No. 1 back, but Paul Perkins sure looked like the man for the job on Saturday in UCLA’s 42-35 win.

In his first start of the season, the redshirt sophomore set career highs with 23 carries, 98 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns against Memphis, including a 17-yard scamper that gave his team an early 6-0 lead. He touched the ball more than any other Bruin has since Nov. 17, 2012 — when all-time leading rusher Johnathan Franklin turned 29 carries into 171 yards and two scores against USC.

Perkins scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run in the second quarter.

“It really doesn’t matter to us (who starts),” Mora said. “It’s whoever’s hot. Paul, two weeks in a row now, has run the ball well. When a guy’s running the ball well, you feed it to him. … If we can have three running backs that can be effective for us, I think that’s a real positive.”

Senior Jordon James — who started at Virginia — only had two carries for two yards. True freshman Nate Starks made his career debut, gaining 11 yards on his first carry but none on his second.

Linebacker Myles Jack returned to part-time offensive duty, bulldozing his way to a four-yard touchdown as part of what should be a gradually expanding package.