Sooner born and Sooner bred, Zac Taylor ended up on the other side of one of college football’s most storied rivalries. Now, he’ll get a chance to play in a big Oklahoma-Nebraska game like the ones he grew up watching.

“The games I remember more than anything else were the Oklahoma-Nebraska games when I was a little kid,” the Nebraska quarterback said. “Those are definitely the most vivid memories I have. Back then I was probably an Oklahoma fan cheering against Nebraska. Now it’s the other way around.”

Taylor, a Norman native and son of former Oklahoma safety Sherwood Taylor, leads the 19th-ranked Cornhuskers against the No. 8 Sooners on Saturday in the Big 12 championship game in Kansas City, Mo.

Taylor remembers going to his first OU-NU game in 1994, when the Cornhuskers came to Norman and left with a 13-3 victory. He went back every time the Sooners hosted Nebraska and was there in 2000, when a third-ranked Oklahoma team knocked off the No. 1 Huskers.

A year later, he was watching on television when No. 2 Nebraska returned the favor with a 20-10 win against third-ranked Oklahoma.

Nebraska quarterback zac taylor will lead the Huskers in the Big 12 championship game against Oklahoma. A native of Norman, Okla., Taylor grew up a Sooners fan before ending up at Nebraska, where he's broken numerous school records.

“I definitely remember just about every game they’ve played over the last 15 years,” Taylor said.

Saturday’s ranks among the biggest. It’s the first time since 1988 Nebraska and Oklahoma played for a conference championship. Since the start of Big 12 in 1996, Nebraska has played in three conference title games and Oklahoma has played in four, but never against each other.

“You would have thought that over the last 10 years that Oklahoma and Nebraska would have played in the championship game,” Taylor said. “For whatever reason, it hasn’t happened.”

Oklahoma (10-2, 7-1), which boasts college football’s most victories since World War II, was in decline at the beginning of Big 12 play and didn’t make it to the title game until Bob Stoops’ second season in 2000. Nebraska, with the most wins since 1970, hasn’t been back to the title game since winning it in 1999.

Huskers coach Bill Callahan credits Taylor with accelerating Nebraska’s comeback by speeding along the installation of his West Coast offense.

Taylor was named the Big 12’s offensive player of the year by league coaches after throwing for a school record 2,789 yards and 24 touchdowns with only four interceptions.