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Jim Mora was asked about Sunday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers, and the Seahawks coach stopped just short of frothing at the mouth.

“I think that it will be a slugfest. I think it will be a tough, gut-grinder kind of game,” Mora said Friday after practice. “That’s the type of team they are and that’s the type of team we are.”

So why is Julius Jones smiling? Because that’s also the kind of challenge that the Seahawks’ leading rusher embraces – no, cherishes.

The best way to insure that Jones will indeed do something is to tell him he can’t possibly do it. Like this offseason, when too much of the talk about the Seahawks focused on just who would run the ball in the team’s new zone-blocking scheme.

“I see that stuff and I hear about it,” Jones said. “But I like it. I like to prove people wrong. I like to make people look silly.”

That certainly was the case in the opener, when Jones ran for 117 yards – including a 62-yard burst for touchdown right up the cut of a St. Louis Rams defense that was stacked to stop him.

Everyone, it seems, had a favorite block on the play. There was the way center Steve Vallos walled off the right side of the crease Jones needed. There was the lead block by fullback Justin Griffith that did the same thing on the right side. But there also was the rookie duo of wide receiver Deon Butler and right guard Max Unger cutting down the pursuit by taking care of cornerback Jonathan Wade and linebacker David Vobora, respectively.

But what about the back, who used a nifty move to freeze the safety and then outran a trio of Rams to the end zone?

“Julius can run, now,” wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “Anybody who says differently just isn’t paying attention.”

That’s another reason Jones is smiling this season. The Seahawks, under new offensive coordinator Greg Knapp, are committed to being a more balanced offense, and Knapp and Mora have committed to Jones being the lead back.

To get ready for his increased load this season, Jones didn’t gain extra weight. He actually shed 10 pounds to get down to 210.

“I just wanted to be lighter,” Jones said. “I don’t really carry weight that well. I mean, I can. But I obviously want to be as fast as possible. And just losing weight will do that for you.”

As fast as he was after popping through that hole against the Rams, and then juking his way to “nothing but green grass,” as he put it after the game.

“Nobody caught me,” he said. “And nobody will catch me, if I can get in the open field.”

Jones then turned the tables and became the questioner, rather than the one answering question.

“So, how’d it look?” he said.

“Well, nobody caught you,” was the response.

“Cool,” said Jones.

Cool, indeed. This season seems like a breeze, after he shared the load and then lost even the role in his first season with the Seahawks. Despite cranking out 127- and 140-yard rushing performances in Weeks 2 and 3 – against the 49ers and Rams– his carries and yards diminished to the point where Jones ran only six times for 24 yards in the last four games.

But Jones isn’t looking back. Just forward. And his coaches and teammates have noticed.

“Julius is just kind of a hard-nosed guy and he's fun to be around,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “He definitely has a short temper, which is OK. On the field you can get him upset and then he runs even harder.

“Even playing him when he was in Dallas, he came out like a man on a mission when he got that ball. I think it’s good. I think it’s a good thing as a running back to have the qualities that he has.”

Mora agrees, adding, “Julius seems energized. He seems excited about being here every day. He seems focused to me.”

Asked about the chip-on-the-shoulder-pad factor, Mora offered, “I haven’t noticed that. But it probably is a good way to play if you are a running back, if you feel like you have something to prove.”

That’s Julius Jones. He is out to prove anyone who has ever doubted him wrong. One carry, one yard at a time.