Mark Mangino doesn’t have time to brood about Saturday’s 47-22 loss to Texas A&M, not with archrival Missouri looming on the schedule this weekend.

“I’ve had the opportunity to be part of other rivalries and they make football so much fun, like the OU-Texas game. That’s awesome,” said KU’s first-year head coach, who was an assistant at Oklahoma the previous three seasons. “The KU-Missouri game is one of the greatest rivalries in college sports, and we’re going to have some fun with it.”

KU’s coaches already were having fun Sunday. Assistants Pat Henderson and Clint Bowen both former Jayhawk players told Border War stories to the staff after reviewing the A&M game tape.

Readers will have to take Mangino’s word that the yarns were good. He wouldn’t share them with reporters because they weren’t suitable for print.

So will coaches share those tales with their players?

“Some of them we will,” Mangino said with a laugh. “Some of them we can’t.”

Saturday’s 1 p.m. game at Columbia, Mo., will be the 111th meeting between the teams. The rivalry is the second-oldest in Division I and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. KU leads the series 51-50-9.

While the game means a lot to players and fans, it won’t mean much in the Big 12 Conference race. Neither team has won a conference game, which means the winner leaps out of the north division cellar.

Kansas will enter 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the league, while Missouri is 3-4 and 0-3 after a 42-38 loss to Texas Tech at Lubbock, Texas.

The game could be critical, however, to the building efforts of Mangino and second-year Missouri coach Gary Pinkel.

“They’re both battling each other for players in both states,” said Jon Kirby of Mo-Kan Football. “It’s a game that could have big implications in the recruiting battle.”

Mangino already has slipped across the state line to gain a verbal commitment from West Platte quarterback Adam Barmann, who Mo-Kan rates as the top senior quarterback in Missouri.

Pinkel, however, has a commitment from Conway Springs tight end Josh Barbo, the No. 1 overall recruit in Kansas.

Several prized prospects still are up for grabs. Wichita Southeast cornerback John Randle, who Mo-Kan rates as the second-best player in the state, has visited Colorado and also has trips scheduled for Kansas and Mizzou.

Kansas City Schlagle defensive end and tight end Rashaad Norwood, the No. 1 senior prospect in the metro area, told Kirby that Kansas and Missouri are his top two choices.

Saturday’s Border War could make the difference.