BATON ROUGE — LSU football was left with just three scholarship running backs in the aftermath of senior running back John Emery going down with a season-ending knee injury during practice earlier this week.

Reinforcements are on the way for the No. 19 Tigers (0-1) ahead of their 2024 home opener versus Nicholls (0-1) on Saturday night (6:30 p.m., ESPN+) inside Tiger Stadium.

LSU football coach Brian Kelly told reporters Thursday afternoon following the team's practice that freshman Ju'Juan Johnson has been moved over from safety to running back this week to help alleviate the depth issue LSU has at the tailback spot.

"I'll let the secret out, we've moved Ju'Juan Johnson to running back," Kelly said. "So he can get some carries and some touches this week. He gives us a fourth back and gives us a little bit more balance there.

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"He's exciting player. He can do a lot of things. We felt like we could shuffle some things around on the defensive side of the ball and begin to get him involved. Obviously, there's going to be a learning curve on some things. But I think he could do some things for us this weekend."

Considering the potential options to help fill in at running back, the Tigers may not could find a better player on the roster to help than Johnson. The former Lafayette Christian Academy star is the Louisiana high school record holder for 14,451 total yards and 171 career touchdowns as he played quarterback for the Knights since his freshman year.

Johnson was a four-star prospect that projected to play cornerback at the collegiate level.

Last week against USC, Emery led LSU's rushing attack with 61 yards on 10 carries, including a game-best 39-yard run. Senior Josh Williams and sophomore Kaleb Jackson combined for 51 yards on 15 rushes.

Kelly said freshman Caden Durham has had more reps during practice and will likely see his first share of playing time as an LSU Tiger against Nicholls on Saturday night.

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Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU football moves freshman Ju'Juan Johnson to running back