Austin, Texas ? One team is rolling, the other is reeling. And after today, either Texas or Kansas State will be alive in the national-title hunt while the other will have to wait until next year.

Both teams go into their Big 12 Conference opener with a loss and knowing that another essentially ends any chance of a national championship.

“We want to run the table,” Texas receiver Roy Williams said. “It doesn’t matter who is in the way.”

The 13th-ranked Longhorns (3-1) have the advantage of having played two easy games since losing Sept. 13 to Arkansas.

Kansas State (4-1) hasn’t played since losing to Marshall two weeks ago. The No. 16 Wildcats probably wish they had a cupcake on the schedule to put the pieces back together.

“We have a lot to prove after the Marshall game,” K-State nose guard Jermaine Berry said. “Playing Texas this weekend is an opportunity for us to go out and correct the things we have been doing wrong against a great team.”

In a way, the roles are reversed from last year’s meeting.

Texas had lost to Oklahoma a week earlier and a desperate Longhorns team rebounded to play one of its best games of the season in a 17-14 win in Manhattan, Kan.

“You never want somebody to come in your house and beat you,” said Texas wide receiver B.J. Johnson. “That’s what we did to them last year. They’re probably still upset about that.”

This year, the Longhorns responded to the Arkansas loss — which snapped a 20-game home winning streak — by posting wins of 48-7 and 63-18 over Rice and Tulane. The scores could have been worse if coach Mack Brown had tried to score in the fourth quarter.

Quarterbacks Chance Mock and Vince Young direct an offense that leads the nation in scoring with 51.3 points a game.

Mock, the starter, is the second-ranked quarterback in the nation with a 177.0 pass efficiency rating with 724 yards, 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. Young is the fleet-footed freshman whose ability to run keeps defenses off balance. He’s led the Horns to nine touchdowns in 11 drives.

Kansas State expects to get a spark from its quarterback as well. Senior Ell Roberson, a Baytown, Texas native, returns to the lineup after missing two games with an injured left hand.

Roberson confounds defenses with his ability to run and throw. The Wildcats use play-action passes to draw defenders in and the option to keep him on the move to find open space to run.

In the three games he played, Roberson passed for 502 yards and five touchdowns and ran for 251 with four TDs. Texas contained Roberson last year, holding him to 125 total yards.

“When you look at everything that’s at stake, this is my biggest game,” Roberson said. “There’s the matter of getting respect for this football team and getting respect for when I go back home. If you lose, everyone will be like, ‘Y’all didn’t beat Texas’ and all that.”