Preserving timestamps on rooted 4.1 device

[ObiWanYJ]

I've got a rooted Sprint Galaxy Note 2 running 4.1.2. I'm able to make good backups using rsync over SSH from the phone to my Ubuntu linux box. In those backups, the timestamps from the phone are preserved. However, when I try to copy anything from the computer back to the phone, the timestamps are ignored and set to whenever I performed the copy. I've tried multiple SSH servers (on the phone) as well as that same rsync app to pull the data from the computer to the phone. I had to restore my photo gallery recently (hundreds of photos), and the order is completely whacked now with no apparent way to change it.

The only thread I've been able to find regarding this issue claims that it's due to Google's implementation of FUSE over their sdcard filesystem. That thread's OP requested a non-root way to preserve timestamps, and the general consensus was that you couldn't do it without rooting the device. Well, my device IS rooted, and I still can't set timestamps. Is there a way to force an app (rsync or sshd) to run as superuser so that it can set the timestamps on the files it creates? Will that even be sufficient to get the dates and timestamps set properly?

Any suggestions? Here's the aforementioned thread, BTW:
How can I transfer photos to my Android Jelly Bean device while preserving the original timestamp? - Android Enthusiasts