Sometimes, those minor tweaks can take a team a long way.

Kansas University’s football squad polished up one little detail of its wide-receiver corps just before the season started – take inside receiver Brian Murph and move him out wide, switching places with same-sized talent Dexton Fields.

Presto. Both feel better, and both are playing a lot better, too.

“I feel more comfortable at inside receiver, because that’s what I was recruited for,” Fields said. “I know that a lot better and that’s more my type of game.”

Fields had perhaps his breakout performance against Nebraska, hauling in eight passes – some highlight-reel – for 108 yards against the Huskers.

Not to be outdone, Murph had eight catches for 129 yards, including a 46-yard bomb and a 26-yard touchdown reception with less than a minute to go, helping send the showdown to overtime.

“There’s no doubt those (receivers) are playing with more confidence,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “They’re playing smart football. They’re really getting a handle on what’s in front of them in terms of the defense, and how to adjust to routes and how to play the ball at its highest point.”

Murph had proven his worth before, catching 33 balls as a junior in 2005. Fields, though, had just one career catch before this season – a 15-yard, game-tying touchdown reception against Iowa State last year, perhaps the biggest catch of KU’s season.

KU receiver Brian Murph waits for a long pass against Nebraska. Murph and teammate Dexton Fields have produced more since switching places.

This year, Fields has quickly become a must-find target, as his numbers against Nebraska show. He attributes a lot of that to the little preseason tweak that moved him inside.

“It’s more my style of game,” Fields said. “It’s more shifty. If you get open, you’re probably going to get the ball most of the time.”

Fields – the cousin of KU men’s basketball freshman Darrell Arthur – has 21 catches for 241 yards, second on the team only to Murph. With Mark Simmons and Charles Gordon no longer in the program, It was well-known that someone other than Murph had to elevate his game this season for KU’s spread offense to work effectively.

Turns out, more than one answered the call. Marcus Henry has 203 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and Marcus Herford has seven catches of his own.

But Fields has really equaled Murph’s playmaking level, and Mangino attributes that to how Fields spends his time between games.

“He comes to practice every day focused,” Mangino said. “He’s attentive in the meeting rooms. He wants to get better and he just works at it. His work ethic is outstanding.”

It had its first big reward against Nebraska, in what could be the start of a solid career. Remember, while Murph is a senior enjoying his swan song, Fields is only a sophomore with a lot of college football left.

“We hadn’t had two receivers have over 100 yards in the same game since 2003, I think,” Fields said. “As far as a breakout game, we’ve been stepping up when we needed to. Coach Mangino would challenge us and we have to step it up.”