Frank Gore eager to play for real under Harbaugh

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Frank Gore grabs the handoff from Alex Smith snap after snap, charges up the middle and adds a few extra yards to each carry as is his customary routine on the practice field.

He treats every carry as if he were in a game. Always has.

A week into training camp after a four-day holdout, the star running back is eagerly looking ahead to San Francisco's Sept. 11 season opener against Seattle. No. 21 isn't sure he needs many touches in the exhibition games to be ready, even this year coming off a fractured right hip that sidelined him for the final five games of 2010.

Gore seems as good natured and geared up as ever to play under new coach Jim Harbaugh.

If he has any hard feelings about his unsettled contract situation, you can't tell.