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Published: December 2, 2006

Nebraska used six trick plays to pull away from Colorado in last week's 37-14 win.

The gambler persona once reserved for OU coach Bob Stoops might now be in line for the Huskers' Bill Callahan.

"They have a number of plays that way that you've got to make sure you're sharp on and that you work," Stoops said of Nebraska. "We'll make sure we work them all week, the different ways they want to line up and try and look for a trick play."

But how many trick plays can one team have ready to use?

"We used all of them for Colorado," Nebraska receiver Maurice Purify said. "Hopefully coach Callahan and his staff make up about three or four more we can use for Oklahoma."

The Big 12 championship game isn't only a meeting of the North and South division champions. The Big 12 offensive and defensive players of the year, Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor and OU linebacker Rufus Alexander, will square off as well.

It's a meeting that went well for Alexander last year in OU's 31-24 win at Lincoln, Neb. Taylor was sacked nine times, three by Alexander.

"He ain't gonna let me sack him three times again," Alexander said. "He's a great player. He's gonna come out there firing away."

Among games that would be considered long-standing rivalries for Oklahoma — Texas, Oklahoma State and Colorado — this one is the closest. OU is 17 games behind Texas, 62 up on OSU and 24 up on the Buffs. But the Sooners lead the Huskers 42-37-3 all-time.

And historically, the Sooners and Cornhuskers often met at the end of the season with a conference title on the line.

Some say the Big 12 setup, which allows OU and Nebraska to play in the regular season only twice every four years, has dampened the rivalry.

But it's doubtful that will be the case tonight at Arrowhead Stadium.

"We've got a fair history going on now, in my eighth year, with them," OU coach Bob Stoops said. "(The rivalry) has not so much died, it's changed. Everyone knows why.

"It's just different than it used to be."

Cold weather isn't as much of a factor in football as some make it out to be. There's been tons of talk this week about the sub-freezing temperatures expected tonight at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

But the wind isn't supposed to be strong and the chance of precipitation is minimal, so the effects of the weather on the game won't be significant. The cold is only difficult to handle for the third-stringer on the sidelines who doesn't get to run around enough to get warm.

By Scott Wright