IRVING, Texas -- DeMarco Murray has never been described as a fumbler during his first three NFL seasons with the Dallas Cowboys.

After all, he had fumbled just seven times in 756 touches, which is once every 108 touches.

Well, he's already fumbled five times this season -- Dallas has lost each them -- and it's an issue that can no longer be overlooked.

Murray is fumbling once every 46.4 touches this season. He leads all NFL players in fumbles. No other running back has fumbled more than three times.

The problem, of course, is that once you get a reputation as a fumbler, it becomes a central conversation for every opponent during their preparation. The byproduct is that every player starts attacking the ball even if it means missing the tackle, and enabling Murray to gain additional yards.

Murray's physical, relentless style puts him at more risk of fumbling than ever this season.

It happened again against Washington.

Murray had gained 36 yards on a nifty catch-and-run, and he probably could've stepped out of bounds about the Washington 12. Instead, he cut inside and tried to run through three defenders into the end zone. A fourth defender ripped the ball out, Washington recovered and Murray wasted a scoring opportunity for the Cowboys in what we could already tell was going to be a taut game.

Murray fumbled in similar situations against Tennessee and San Francisco. As Emmitt Smith tweeted moments after the fumble, "Know when the journey is over!!!"

"Somehow, someway we have to communicate it better, drill it better and show it better," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. "In DeMarco's case, this is probably the third or fourth one, where it's the end of the down, he's staying up and making yards and the third or fourth guy comes in rips it out.

"Understanding where he is in the play and getting down is important for him -- and he does that a lot. When you carry the football as much he does, he has that circumstance happen 25 times a game. He makes a heck of a play, we're down to the 5-yard line and ball comes out. Obviously that can't happen."

Murray is in the midst of an historical season, the kind every NFL players hopes to experience once in a career.

He's broken Jim Brown's 56-year-old record for consecutive 100-yard games to start the season, and he's on pace to break Eric Dickerson's 30-year-old single-season rushing record.

The fumbles are only a smudge on an otherwise spotless season.