Carlisle-Faulkner Field, affectionately refered to as “the Rock,” is the football home of for Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss. It will be the scene of tonight’s game between USM and Kansas University, a rare Friday night game that reminds as least some Jayhawks of their high school playing days.

Hattiesburg, Miss. ? During his days as a standout prep quarterback in Fort Worth, Texas, Kansas University football coach Turner Gill earned all-state, all-county and all-district honors at Arlington Heights High.

In those days, Gill, like most high school football players, lit up the scoreboard under the famed Friday night lights.

Gill’s Kansas University football team will attempt to do the same thing when it kicks off the third game of the season at 7 tonight against Southern Miss at Carlisle-Faulkner Field — a place the locals affectionately call “The Rock.” Though tonight’s game will be played on the same night as most high school showdowns across the nation, the specifics of Gill’s prep stardom remained a distant memory for the first-year coach.

“That’s so long ago that it’s hard to even reflect on things of that nature,” said Gill, more focused on the challenge of preparing the Jayhawks to play a day earlier than normal. “You’ve got one less day for your guys to get rested up, so we take that into consideration. That’s about it. Otherwise, it’s good to go play another football game.”

Though Gill’s mind stayed focused on the task at hand, working toward a Friday night kickoff brought back fond memories for several Jayhawks.

“Wooo, I have a couple, man,” junior linebacker Steven Johnson said as he squirmed in his seat after being asked about his favorite football memories from his days at Strath Haven High in Wallingford, Pa. “Friday night football was amazing. I remember one Friday night, we won the District 1 championship. We played Unionville (Pa.), and there were a whole bunch of people there. I had a pretty good game. I ran for a touchdown, caught a big pass, and it was just amazing because there’s no atmosphere like Friday night. The whole town shuts down, and everybody comes to see you. From what I hear, that’s how it’s going to be in Mississippi (tonight) because there’s nothing there but football.”

Until this season, some of Johnson’s best football memories came at the 3,500-seat George L. King Field, a place where, in 2005, he led the state in tackles, with 123, and helped guide the Panthers to their ninth District 1 championship in a 10-year stretch.

Though the names, colors and surroundings have changed, Johnson, who currently is second on the team in tackles (20) as a starter, said this week brought back feelings of nostalgia.

“It kind of does feel a little bit different because we practiced on (Monday), and I haven’t practiced on a Monday in like four or five years,” Johnson said.

While Johnson enjoyed extraordinary success during his high school career, junior Daymond Patterson and sophomore Lubbock Smith weren’t quite as lucky. That didn’t matter. Both talked glowingly of playing on Fridays in Texas, a trip down memory lane that included a matchup against each other one Friday night in 2007.

“I would say (my favorite memory is) when we played against Daymond Patterson,” Smith said. “I went to Carter High (in Dallas), he went to North Mesquite. We were the underdog, and we actually beat them, and I got the game-winning interception.”

The only thing that needed clarifying after Smith’s recap was if the pass was intended for Patterson.

“Absolutely,” he said with a grin. “It was going to him.”

The game is not one of Patterson’s fondest memories from high school, though he does remember it well.

“It was the first time my school had been to the playoffs in like five years, and we ended up losing in the first round,” he said. “Me and Lubbock always talk about that game. I always tell him they were sorry, he says we were sorry. We always talk and argue about the game.”

For Patterson, as well as KU quarterback Jordan Webb, who was a standout passer at Union (Mo.) High, the real thrill of looking back on their high school days comes from reminiscing about teammates and friends of old.

“Just being out there with the people you grew up with and all your friends. That’s probably my biggest memory from high school,” Patterson said. “They were all 7 o’clock games, too, so this does take me back to the high school days.”

Added Webb: “It makes you remember playing under those lights on Friday night. It’s going to be fun. Football was huge; the whole town will be there. It’s definitely going to feel a little bit like high school again with it being on Friday and it being the big thing in town.”