As expected, a lingering undisclosed injury to running back Jon Cornish won’t be enough to keep him out of Kansas University’s football game at Baylor.

So if the Bears do what others have done, they’ll focus on stopping the Jayhawks’ best offensive weapon Saturday at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.

“I feel good,” Cornish said after practice Wednesday. “Good enough to play. I’m always ready.”

Cornish sat out much of the second half last week against Oklahoma State because of an ailment that also bothered him against Texas A&M. He still rushed for 128 yards against the Aggies, but had just 55 yards against OSU on 10 carries – by far his lowest output of the season.

Oklahoma State keyed on Cornish, forcing quarterback Kerry Meier to run 20 times for 70 yards. The Cowboys’ game plan wasn’t unlike Texas A&M’s or Toledo’s, teams that recognized KU’s most consistent source for yardage and tried to make sure Cornish wouldn’t beat them.

Still, Cornish is well on his way to a 1,000-yard season, having 765 yards rushing on 146 carries with three touchdowns. He has hit the 100-yard mark in five of KU’s seven games.

“That’s how it was at the beginning of the season, that’s how it is now,” Cornish said of teams keying on him. “I’m used to it by this point.”

Cornish still gets his share of yards, though, either by breaking off one or two big gains per game or always falling forward for an extra yard when he gets wrapped up.

Defensive tendencies won’t keep the ball out of Cornish’s hand, either. KU coach Mark Mangino said he didn’t think it was wise to counterattack with something other than Cornish just because a defense was focused on his star running back.

“I still think, when you have something that you play well with on a consistent basis, you should not be able to let a team take you out of that,” Mangino said. “They should not keep you from doing it.”

Cornish has an individual accomplishment in the back of his head, to go with the team goal of bowl-eligibility: a Big 12 Conference rushing title. Cornish currently is second to Oklahoma star Adrian Peterson’s 935 yards, but Peterson won’t have more than a bowl game left after he broke his collarbone last week against Iowa State.

That leaves Missouri tailback Tony Temple, with 600 yards so far, as the only healthy running back close to Cornish.

“I’m really looking forward to having an opportunity,” Cornish said of going for the rushing title.

Cornish’s next chance for yards will be Saturday, and he’ll get plenty of touches – whether Baylor focuses on him or not.

“He’s not caught up in that,” Mangino said. “He just wants to do his job, and if he executes well and the people around him will, he’s going to have the opportunity to be successful.”