OU notebook

Sooner center Jon Cooper's dad, Tom Cooper, played at Missouri from 1972-75, experiencing his own rivalry with Nebraska.

Growing up in Colorado, where CU is a latter-day rival of the Big Red, imposed a double dose of dislike for all things Husker on the OU sophomore.

"I've kind of grown up hating Nebraska my fair share," Cooper said. "It's a pretty big deal for me."

For Cooper, this week is somewhat like OU-Texas for his teammates.

"A little bit, yeah," Cooper said. "My dad hated them, so he passed that on to me. And everybody from CU hated them, so I was surrounded, because nobody liked them in Colorado, certainly not in my house."

"I definitely respect them, because they've won championships. Oklahoma's won championships. When I was recruited, my dad made sure to tell me how much of a good rivalry this is, especially back when they played every year."

• Alexander an All-American: Oklahoma senior linebacker Rufus Alexander was named to the American Football Coaches Association All-America team, which will be released in its entirety today.

The team is voted on by the NCAA Division I coaches.

Alexander, the 142nd All-American in OU history, leads the Sooners with 95 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss. He also has two quarterback sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception.

On Tuesday, he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by the conference coaches.

• Chill factor: The forecast for Saturday in Kansas City calls for a high of 44 degrees and a low of 17.

With a 7 p.m. kickoff, game time temperatures are likely to lean closer to the low, which will seem awful foreign to OU quarterback Paul Thompson.

"If it's 17 degrees, I'm in bed somewhere," Thompson said with a laugh.

While much talk in the Sooner camp has been to downplay the chill factor, Thompson said there are consequences to playing in the cold.

"It's going to be important for us to stay loose," he said. "They usually have heated benches on the sidelines. So every time we're on the sideline, we need to get on those benches."

Otherwise, Thompson said, no worries.

"If it's cold for us, it's cold for them, too," he said. "We've played in cold games before."

• Injured Huskers: Nebraska has several banged-up offensive players.

Offensive linemen Matt Slauson (ankle) and Greg Austin (knee) practiced early in the week. But tailbacks Marlon Lucky (back) and Cody Glenn (foot) have been slowed.

Offensive coordinator Jay Norvell said the tailbacks' status was "day-to-day."

By John Helsley, George Schroeder and Scott Wright