Cornish watch: Kansas University running back Jon Cornish, who has 1,041 rushing yards this season, is one of seven Division I-A players with at least 1,000 yards rushing. Of those seven, only two have fewer carries than Cornish’s 193.

At his present pace, Cornish will finish the regular season with 1,388 yards. If Kansas makes a bowl game, Cornish’s stats from that game would count toward his total as well.

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Still no honors: It was believed that cornerback Aqib Talib would be a strong candidate for Big 12 defensive player-of-the-week honors after the sophomore had two huge interceptions, two pass breakups, a quarterback hurry and five tackles in KU’s 20-15 victory over Colorado.

The defensive honor instead went to Oklahoma State’s Nate Peterson, who had four tackles, two sacks and a fumble return for a touchdown in a victory over Nebraska.

Kansas is the only BIg 12 school not to have a player recognized this year as conference player of the week on either offense, defense or special teams.

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Challenged: Coach Mark Mangino’s decision not to discuss who will start at quarterback this week will be perplexing for Iowa State’s preparation, Cyclones coach Dan McCarney said.

“It’s a challenge, there’s no doubt. All of them are Big 12-caliber quarterbacks,” McCarney said of Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier and Adam Barmann. “They all have talent, and they all have different strengths.”

McCarney can expect either Meier or Reesing to start, and if Meier’s healthy, the possibility exists for both freshmen to play. Reesing’s performance likely bumped Barmann down the depth chart.

“The bottom line is, any of those three he puts on the field can do the job,” McCarney said. “They’ve had some tremendous success offensively through most of the season with all the quarterbacks.”