JERRY LAZIURE/University of Oklahoma Oklahoma linebacker Rocky Calmus will be a key for the Sooners in stopping the Nebraska rushing attack Saturday. Calmus has 34 career tackles for loss.

So of course he prefers facing running teams over finesse passing attacks.

"I always like to put the game in the linebackers' and d-line's hands instead of the defensive backs," said Rocky Calmus, third-ranked Oklahoma's leading tackler. "I'd rather be in the mix of things."

Oh, you can bet Calmus will be in the mix Saturday when Oklahoma faces top-ranked Nebraska at Owen Field. The 6-foot-3, 234-pound junior has recorded 50 stops this season, including a team-best nine for 30 yards in losses.

Calmus' 34 career tackles behind the line of scrimmage trails only Brian Bosworth among linebackers on the school's all-time chart. "The Boz" made 39 tackles for loss from 1984-86.

"He's a good player," Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Brent Venables said of Calmus. "Solid as a rock - no pun intended."

Calmus will need to be solid - and then some - against Nebraska's nation-leading ground assault. Just as quarterback Josh Heupel is the key to Oklahoma's high-flying offense, Calmus and fellow linebacker Torrance Marshall spearhead the Sooners' defense.

But, Venables said, it is Calmus' play that becomes particularly important against the kind of scheme the Huskers employ.

"What they like to do against our front four gives Rocky a chance to make a lot of plays," Venables said. "If he plays well, we have a good chance to be successful on defense.

"Obviously, if he doesn't, we won't be worth a dang."

Said Calmus: "The linebackers are a big key. But to be honest, I think it will take the whole defense. If one person is not in the right spot, it's going to be out of the gate - they're going to get positive yards."

Nebraska, behind fleet junior quarterback Eric Crouch, has built a 7-0 record by riddling foes for an average of nearly 380 rushing yards per game. In addition to Crouch, the Huskers feature three big I-backs, a couple of 245-pound fullbacks and a cast of sure-handed receivers.

Not to mention an offensive line with two leading All-American candidates.

"They're in sync," Calmus said. "Their linemen, they flow. And the quarterback, sometimes he doesn't even have to look at the running back and he can pitch it. They just run their offense to a T."

Oklahoma, though, is no slouch against the run. The Sooners rank 19th nationally, allowing 101.7 yards per game.

Texas possesses a giant offensive line, but managed only minus-7 yards rushing in a humiliating 63-14 loss to the Sooners.

Kansas State, in a 41-31 defeat, gained 144 yards on the ground against Oklahoma. But the Wildcats averaged only 4.3 yards per rush.

"They're somewhat physical," Calmus said of the Texas and K-State offensive lines. "But these guys (the Huskers) are big and fast, and they're good cutters."

Calmus referred to Nebraska's penchant to cut-block, or to go after the legs of defenders. It's a common technique for option teams.

"And they do a little leg-whipping, which isn't legal, but . . ." Calmus said, trailing off in mid-sentence.

Make no mistake, Calmus respects Nebraska's offensive prowess.

"They execute what they do better than anybody in the Big 12," he said. "And out here (at practice) you can't really simulate their offense, especially with the cut blocks, because you don't want to get anybody hurt."

Not that Calmus worries much about injury.

A former teammate of Nebraska nose tackle Jason Lohr at Jenks (Okla.) High, Calmus has played at different times with a deep thigh bruise, a separated shoulder, a rib injury, a sprained knee and a broken leg.

Yes, a broken leg.

Last November, despite a fractured bone in his right lower leg, Calmus recorded nine tackles in a win against arch-rival Oklahoma State. "I think I would've had a couple sacks if I didn't have a broken leg," he said this week. Calmus broke his thumb against Kansas three games ago, but hasn't missed any time. "Not a beat, in either a game or practice," he said proudly. He plays with a rubber cast for protection.

It might take two broken legs to keep him out of Saturday's showdown.

"You can't miss those big games," he said.

Much is being made of the renewal of the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry, and many fans are reminiscing about the teams' great wars of the 1970s and 1980s."But we want to start our own history and tradition and be on ESPN Classics - Nebraska vs. Oklahoma, No. 1 vs. No. 3," Calmus said. "That's why I came here, to get that tradition going again."

OKLAHOMA NOTEBOOK

** SLINGIN' IN THE RAIN: Rain fell steadily most of Wednesday in Norman, Okla., but it didn't keep third-ranked Oklahoma from having what Coach Bob Stoops described as an excellent practice. "That Astroturf makes a world of difference," said Stoops, referring to the Sooners' outdoor practice field (their grass practice fields were too soggy for use). "You got to be able to go out and work. We got everything done we needed to and really had a good practice." The Sooners began their full-pads workout after a 15-minute delay because of lightning. OU lacks an adequate indoor practice facility, but a $100 million athletic-facility expansion project will include one. "It will make a major difference," Stoops said. "You don't want to be caught in any game, let alone this one, where you don't have a place to prepare." The 6-0 Sooners, Stoops added, are devoid of injury. "Everybody who played in the last two games will play Saturday," he said.

** SPLISH SPLASH: Stoops played down the effect rain might have on Saturday's game on the plush grass of Owen Field. "They'll keep the balls a whole lot drier than our managers do," he said. "We'll be fine either way." Despite heavy rain Sunday night, Tuesday and Wednesday, Owen Field showed no sign of puddles thanks to a sand-based underground layer that soaks up water. "You wouldn't even know it rained," Kenny Gajewski, OU's facilities manager, told the Daily Oklahoman. "You can walk across the field and it doesn't even squish."

** BACK FROM ... WHEREVER: OU linebacker Rocky Calmus recently welcomed home his 26-year-old brother Lance from, um, well - Rocky knows it was either Taiwan or Thailand, but he's not sure which. He does know that his brother pitches for an overseas minor-league baseball team that recently lost a playoff series. "I was kind of hoping they would lose," Rocky said. "Because he wants to come here and support me. I love him a lot, and he's a great brother." Baseball runs in the family. Rocky's uncle, Dick Calmus, pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers team that captured the World Series in 1965. Rocky's father pitched in the minors.

** TOUGHEN UP: After Nebraska pounded Florida 62-24 in the Fiesta Bowl following the 1995 season, Gators head coach Steve Spurrier went looking for a new defensive coordinator. He found Stoops, who was then defensive coordinator at Kansas State. In Stoops' first season at Florida, the Gators captured the 1996 national crown. "We knew we had to be a more physical and stronger team against the run game," Stoops said this week. "We worked at it harder. And I know all those years at K-State, competing against Nebraska, it definitely improved our defense. Just from having the discipline to play against them, having the toughness to be physical to stop the run. All of that helped."

** WHAT DO YOU THINK?: Stoops apparently is in the camp that would rather not play a conference championship game. The Sooners are the front-runner to capture the Big 12 South Division, which would mean a game against the North winner Dec. 2 in Kansas City, Mo. "I think what you have to be careful of is some teams play the (conference) championship game and some don't," Stoops said. "That can be your most difficult game of the year. If everyone else isn't doing it. ... There should be something changed in regard to it."

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.