Kansas City, Mo. ? Ell Roberson could talk about the challenge of facing the nation’s best defense.

He could talk about coming up one point short in his only previous game against Oklahoma, or offer his opinion on Jason White, the Sooners’ record-setting quarterback and the Heisman Trophy favorite.

That is, he could talk about those things if Roberson were talking. But No. 13 Kansas State’s outspoken senior quarterback has been conspicuously low-profile — make that no-profile — in the days leading up to today’s Big 12 Conference championship game against the top-ranked Sooners.

He did not take part in the national conference call Monday, and reporters at Tuesday’s team news conference in Manhattan were told that Roberson was out of town. No reason was given.

If coach Bill Snyder hoped to minimize the chances of Roberson giving the Sooners any bulletin board material, Snyder succeeded.

Remember that three weeks ago Roberson called Nebraska quarterback Jammal Lord “one crazy cat” and accused Lord of running his mouth without backing it up — angering Lord so much that he refused to shake Roberson’s hand before the Wildcats’ 38-9 win.

Or perhaps Snyder was trying to keep his quarterback on an even emotional keel — because when Roberson gets worked up, he tends to overthrow his receivers early in the game.

But Roberson out of sight wasn’t Roberson out of mind for the Sooners. Although Darren Sproles’ 1,713 yards rushing make him Kansas State’s top threat on the ground, Roberson is as much a threat to run as to pass.

Kansas state football coach Bill Snyder, left, shakes hands with Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops during a news conference. The two coaches spoke Friday in Kansas City, Mo., about tonight's Big 12 Conference championship game.

Despite missing two starts and most of another game with an injured left wrist, he has still rushed for 881 yards and 13 touchdowns and thrown for 2,024 yards and 20 scores.

“You have to be able to contain and tackle Ell and be good against the run,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Friday. “You look at playing them from a defensive standpoint with Roberson and Sproles — you have to position yourself properly, tackle when you get there and not allow them to fool you.”

It wasn’t until the fourth game of the 2002 season, when Roberson led Kansas State to a 27-20 home win over Southern California, that he clearly established himself as the Wildcats’ starter.

Roberson’s experiences this year include two feats that hadn’t been accomplished by a Wildcat since 1968 — breaking the school record for total offense and leading Kansas State to a win over Nebraska in Lincoln.

“Ell’s been around for a long time and has had a great deal of experience in what you would consider ‘big games,”‘ Snyder said. “He’s a very competitive young guy who has natural leadership, and our youngsters attach leadership to his role.

“I think he relishes the opportunity to play in games like this.”