Norman, Okla. ? Heading into a game against No. 2 Texas and the most prolific rushing offense in the nation, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops knows his Sooners have to be extra stingy to keep up with Vince Young and the Longhorns.

That’s nothing new for Oklahoma (2-2, 1-0 Big 12). In five straight wins in the series, the Sooners have outrushed the Longhorns every single time.

“That’s where we always begin defensively is doing our best to be really strong and efficient and tough against the run game. We’ve never made a secret of that in seven years here,” Stoops said. “It’s a great challenge this week. That’s what we need to do. That’s where it begins.

“In the past we have been able to do that, and that’ll be a big factor in this game.”

The Longhorns (4-0, 1-0) head into this week averaging 310 rushing yards per game, paced by freshman running back Jamaal Charles’ 111.8 yards per game. Young is adding another 77.5 yards on the ground from the quarterback position.

That doesn’t mean the Sooners’ defense is intimidated.

“Every year we went in and played them, they always had a great rushing game,” Oklahoma linebacker Clint Ingram said. “Cedric Benson’s been there for four years and he’s been one of the top rushers ever since he’s been there.” Benson now plays in the NFL.

Oklahoma running back kejuan jones, left, is congratulated by quarterback Rhett Bomar, center, following a touchdown in the second half against Kansas State last week. The Sooners hope the run game continues this week against No. 2 Texas in the Red River Shootout.

During the streak, Oklahoma has gained 1,064 yards on the ground to Texas’ 398. The result has been a 189-54 combined score in the Sooners’ favor.

“If you go back and look at this game on certain years, neither one of us has run it that well, on some years we haven’t run it well and they have run it for a bunch. That is a concern,” Texas coach Mack Brown said. “Anytime you go into a football game and the other team can run the ball on you, you will most likely lose.”

Last year, Oklahoma racked up 301 rushing yards — including 225 from Adrian Peterson — on its way to a 12-0 win.

Peterson, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy as a freshman last year, isn’t the only one to have success for Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry. Quentin Griffin scored six rushing touchdowns as the Sooners racked up 245 yards in a 63-14 win in 2000 and had 248 yards rushing in a 35-24 win two years later. Renaldo Works picked up 112 of the Sooners’ 189 rushing yards in 2003.

“We realize what they’ve done in the past, but I think Texas realizes it, too,” Oklahoma fullback J.D. Runnels said. “I know they’re going to come after our run game, and we’ve got to do everything we can to get it going.”

If Oklahoma is running effectively, it also means Texas’ potent rushing attack doesn’t have the ball. That’s not necessarily the Sooners’ focus, but a desired side effect.

“We don’t ever go into games saying we’ve got to keep them off the field. It’s hard to plan that way,” Long said. “We go into games saying let’s have good balance, let’s have good run packages and we’ll throw the passes off of that.”

The importance of Oklahoma’s ground game is magnified because redshirt freshman quarterback Rhett Bomar will be playing in the half-crimson, half-burnt orange Cotton Bowl for the first time.

“We just want to make sure that things are easiest for him. We want to keep the pressure off of him. We want to make the decisions that he’s going to make as easy as we can,” Runnels said. “Our biggest key is establishing our run game.”