While Johnson has adapted to a life of celebrity, Boise State has slipped back to its life of relative national anonymity. As much as things have changed in Boise, there is still the perception that the program is an outsider among college football’s elite.  The Broncos have won 17 of 18 games. [They play Nevada on Sunday.] But because of an early-season loss at Washington, they have fallen far out of the national spotlight.  Boise State’s disappearance shows just how precarious life outside college football’s six major conferences can be. Despite a 5-1 record and consecutive blowout victories over Southern Mississippi and New Mexico State on national television, the Broncos are not even among the top 35 vote-getters in the Associated Press poll of the news media.  But there are still a lot of positives around campus. The team’s roster is dotted with players from places like Texas, Florida and Maryland, a reflection of the program’s blooming reach and reputation. Looming over Bronco Stadium, which seats 30,000 fans, is a construction project that costs more than $36 million and will include luxury suites, a new press box and other offices and shops. A separate stadium expansion of 10,000 seats should be finished in the next 5 to 10 years.  “The exposure for recruiting and for our fan base and the fact that we continue to keep building and growing this program — those are the things that are fun about being here right now,” Petersen said.  Now in his junior year, Johnson is trying to put up similar numbers from his sensational sophomore season with a new supporting cast. Also, he and his new wife, the former Chrissy Popadics, are adjusting to life as Boise’s most famous couple.  Johnson fields autograph requests during church, has small children knock on the door of his home and was even asked to knit beanies for officers in a police unit while they were raiding a meth lab on his street. Johnson said his license plate — CIANRUN — is an invitation for cars to follow him around and weave through traffic for a glimpse of him.  “I wouldn’t say that it’s back to normal,” he said. “I would say that this is our new normal.”  Johnson said things had settled down since the wedding in July, which was held with six police officers in attendance because of threats made to the couple. Johnson is biracial, and his wife is white, and numerous telephone calls and letters to the Popadics family objected to the couple’s union.  Things were so serious that Johnson became the subject of an F.B.I. case file and now directs suspicious unopened mail to the F.B.I. But Johnson said that all fun things about their newfound fame, like an appearance on “Good Morning America” and a trip to the ESPY’s, outweighed any negatives. When asked if he regretted the public nature of the engagement, Johnson did not hesitate.  Johnson’s 2006 season, which included 25 touchdowns and 142.8 rushing yards a game — all while working 20 hours a week for a plumbing company — has prompted defenses to gang up on him. In the loss to Washington, Johnson said a Huskies defender grunted to him, “You’re not going to get 50 yards of rushing.”  “It’s definitely a different world out there this year,” he said.  Johnson’s numbers have dipped from last season; he is averaging 97.6 yards a game and has scored seven touchdowns. With defenses loading up to stop the run, the Boise State coaches are trying different ways to get the ball to Johnson. He has already caught 14 passes this season as opposed to eight all last season.  “You don’t put that on Ian,” Boise State’s offensive coordinator, Bryan Harsin, said about Johnson’s drop in production. “You put that on our entire offense. That’s on me, ultimately. It’s figuring out these guys in this system.”  Johnson will probably return to Boise next year for his senior season and one final run at a Bowl Championship Series game. Petersen notes that Johnson, at 5 feet 10 inches and less than 200 pounds, “isn’t Darren McFadden,” a reference to Arkansas’s 6-2, 205-pound running back who is a top N.F.L. prospect.  That seems fine with Johnson, who plans on settling in Boise after graduation and who said that he would not pursue an N.F.L. career unless he had a secure contract. The life of bouncing around N.F.L. practice squads is not as appealing to him as a stable life for his family.  “Now,” Johnson said, “I’m thinking for two.”  Even if he makes the N.F.L., Johnson said he planned on keeping a place in Boise. It is the perfect place for the legend of his eccentricities to grow, as well as an ideal setting for his family. And, maybe someday, a pet monkey.  A version of this article appears in print on , on Page SP85 of the New York edition with the headline: Eccentric Star Flourishes in a Small Spotlight. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
In the four years since Ian Johnson arrived at Boise State, he has played perhaps the biggest role in giving some style to a program long on success but short on national cachet.