PITTSBURGH — Ray Graham didn’t quite believe it until he saw it with his own eyes.

Yes, indeed, that was LeBron James who tweeted the Pittsburgh running back was “a beast” while watching Graham carve up South Florida for 226 yards in a 44-17 romp last Thursday.

Then Graham did something very un-Grahamlike: He bolted across the locker room in joy.

“It was crazy,” Graham said.

Graham replied to James via Twitter but has yet to get a response.

“He’s busy focused on the (NBA) lockout,” Graham said.

And Graham is getting off to one of the hottest starts in Pitt history.

The junior has 734 rushing yards through five games for the Panthers (3-2, 1-0 Big East), the most ever by a Pitt back to start a season.

Heady territory for Graham, who wondered what his role would be when coach Todd Graham was hired in January. Ray Graham signed under former Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt and was drawn to the school because of the Wannstedt’s ability to churn out NFL-ready backs.

He wasn’t sure how his role would change under his new coach’s “high octane” system. Turns out, better than he possibly could have imagined.

“Coach Graham came in, turned it around and made everybody comfortable,” he said.

Particularly his star running back. Graham has blossomed into the heartbeat of Pitt’s resurgent attack. His 146.7 yards a game ranks third in the country and his 25 receptions leads the team heading into Saturday’s game at Rutgers (3-1, 1-0).

He put it all together in a scintillating performance against the Bulls, though he had plenty of help. Quarterback Tino Sunseri threw for 216 yards and a score and picked up another 35 on the ground.

It was the kind dynamic, well-rounded performance Todd Graham preached would happen as his players started to get comfortable in his system.

Their belief wasn’t shaken even after meltdowns against Iowa and Notre Dame or as criticism mounted that Graham’s turnaround would take longer than expected.

“We still had faith, we just kept trusting the coaches,” Graham said. “We saw that every week we were getting better and we were improving. We said, ‘Just keep trusting the system and when it happens we’ll be there to make it happen.”‘

It happened with stunning efficiency against the Bulls. Pittsburgh outscored USF 24-0 in the second half to turn a close game into a rout by living up to Todd Graham’s mantra of getting in the left lane and stepping on the gas.

“I told them if you execute the system, the system will work for you,” the coach said.

The coach has likened this season to a “transformation” and has never backed off his assessment the Panthers can win immediately. After a shaky first month, the learning curve appears to have leveled off.

“We put Pitt football on display,” he said.

Now comes an even bigger task: Backing it up. While watching game film after trouncing the Bulls was a considerably more enjoyable, Ray Graham still wasn’t satisfied.

“We left some yards out there,” he said.

They could be hard to come by against Rutgers, something Graham knows better than most. His older brother Khaseem Greene is a defensive back for the Scarlet Knights.

It’s a unique opportunity for Graham, who is a perfect 2-0 against his brother. Getting to 3-0 would give the Panthers an early leg up in the Big East race and that — and not bragging rights at the Thanksgiving dinner table — is what’s important.

“We’re on a mission,” he said.

One that’s turning heads. Graham’s performance has helped put the focus back on the football field instead of the board rooms. That’s not a bad thing for a conference still reeling from Pitt and Syracuse’s eventual defection to the ACC in 2014.

Ray Graham won’t be around when the switch happens. While he wishes the program good luck in the future, he’s more concerned about the present. The Panthers have never won an outright Big East title.

If they keep playing the way they did against the Bulls, that streak might finally be over.

Graham sees his team much the way he views his running style. He’ll wait for a hole to open and once he sees it, it’s time to roll.

“Just one cut and you’re gone,” he said.