The 1996 first-round draft choice was great for two plays Sunday, breaking Panthers club records twice during a 27-3 romp over the Cincinnati Bengals.

Biakabutuka’s 62-yard touchdown run down the right sideline on the Panthers’ first play from scrimmage gave Carolina the lead with less than four minutes of playing time elapsed. It also broke the club record for the longest run from scrimmage, surpassing Derrick Moore’s 53-yarder in 1995.

Then, in the third quarter, the 6-foot, 215-pound former University of Michigan star broke loose again. He tried to go left, then reversed his field, picked up a big block from quarterback Steve Beuerlein and raced 67 yards down the right sideline, breaking his own record.

“I’m pretty excited. This is the best I’ve felt since I’ve been here,” said the 25-year-old running back, who finished with a career-high 132 yards on just eight carries.

Before being selected eighth in the 1996 draft, Biakabutuka set Michigan single-season records for carries (303) and yards (1,818). His 313 yards against Ohio State in 1995 was the second-highest single-game rushing total ever for the Wolverines.

However, he tore his left anterior cruciate ligament in the fourth game of his rookie season in 1996 and has been bothered by the injury and inconsistency since then. Over the last four games of 1998, he showed signs of returning to top form, averaging almost 100 yards a game.

“This was my first offseason to really train. ... I knew that if I kept working hard and the line kept improving, that I was going to be able to run like I used to run in college,” he said.

“I practiced hard every day, and I came out and just did the best I could, and the result was a 100 and some yards. ... The line blocked great. I can’t sit here and take the whole credit. It was a tremendous job up front,” Biakabutuka added.

Alternating with Fred Lane in the Panthers’ first two games, he had rushed for 92 yards in 14 carries. His total now stands a 224 yards in 22 carries, a pace that would give him almost 1,200 yards for the 16-game regular season. That’s more than the club record of 1,120 set by Anthony Johnson in 1996.

How about alternating with Lane, who carried only five times for 5 yards yesterday?

“As a running back, you want to carry the ball 20 times a game. If I get two carries a game, I’m going to try to do the best I can with those carries. Coach (George) Seifert has been pretty successful in this league. He knows what he’s doing; that’s what I believe in. ... My job is to do the best I can do to win games, and that’s all I’m worrying about right now. I want to carry the ball 20 times a game, but if it doesn’t happen, I can’t worry about it,” he responded.

“He’s getting a lot of opportunities, and he’s taking advantage of it,” said Seifert, who got his first win as head coach of the Panthers after earlier losses to the Saints and Jaguars.

“Tshimanga’s runs were huge for everybody,” said quarterback Beuerlein, “but the second was probably more important for him because he made something out of nothing. It does wonders for his confidence.”

On that TD run, Biakabutuka appeared to be hemmed in on the left side, then turned and headed toward the right sideline.

“On the second one, Beuerlein threw a great block (on cornerback Artrell Hawkins), and I was able to turn the corner ... there was nobody in front of me.I took it to the house. It was just a great effort by Beuerlein to give me the corner,” he said.

“I was just hoping that Tshimanga would be able to get it back over to my side of the field.I was assuming that it was going to be a 5-yard loss,” said Beuerlein. “But he kept it alive, and I saw him coming my way.I knew that if I could secure that corner, he’d have a chance to get around. Twenty-seven, their defensive back, was running right at me and was not looking at me. I got excited: I thought I was going to have a chance to really hit somebody hard. I didn’t attack him the way I should have, and he ended up seeing me and kind of veering off at the last second. But I got enough of him to get Timmy around the corner. That’s all that matters,” explained the quarterback.

Biakabutuka, a native of Zaire who didn’t start playing football until the age of 16 in Canada, enjoyed running down the right sideline for two similar TDs, each time avoiding getting tackled around the ankles at about the 10-yard line.

“It felt good to be in the open.I’m just happy I didn’t get run down, because my teammates wouldn’t talk about me,” he said with a laugh. “I’m just happy I made it to the end zone. I’m just happy we won the game.”

Was it the kind of game that could propel him to similar production in his fourth pro season?

“You don’t get too may games where you carry the ball eight times for 100 and some yards. Praise God, I got two good runs in there to pull my average up. I’ve got to take it and just keep moving,” he said. “I’m running like I used to run, and I’m having fun. That’s the most important thing, for me to enjoy myself again, and this year’s the year I’m going to enjoy myself.”

If he enjoys himself like he did Sunday, it’s going to be a more enjoyable season for the Panthers than the 4-12 of 1998.