Kansas safety Tevin Shaw tosses back his dreads before putting on his helmet in the first half of the Jayhawks' 41-38 loss to South Dakota State on Sept. 5. Shaw, who hailes from Piscataway, New Jersey, is set to head home to face Rutgers this Saturday.

Although his focus is almost entirely on preparing for Saturday’s 11 a.m. game at Rutgers and doing everything he can to help the Kansas University football team come away with a victory, KU junior Tevin Shaw will be facing a win-win scenario this weekend.

See, if the 0-2 Jayhawks win, the New Jersey native will always remember his homecoming as the day he tasted victory and helped snap KU’s 33-game road losing streak.

But even if the Jayhawks lose, and the streak grows to 34, at least Shaw will be able to savor the flavor of a Reuben sandwich from Tastee Subs.

“It’s this place in Edison, New Jersey,” said Shaw of the one food request he made to his mother, Darlene. “It’s a really popular place and they stack them like (6 or 8 inches high), especially the Reubens.”

Darlene Shaw will be one of 30 or 40 Shaw family members in the stands at High Point Solutions Stadium on Saturday, and the KU safety said the chance to play in front of such a large gathering of friends and family — with the help of his teammates, Shaw secured 70 tickets for Saturday’s showdown — brought back memories of his high school days, when he starred for Piscataway High and won two state championships in the very stadium he’ll be playing in on Saturday.

“I know exactly what the locker room we’re gonna be in looks like,” Shaw boasted. “It’s small.”

In addition to playing a couple of memorable high school football games at Rutgers’ home stadium, Shaw also went to several Scarlet Knights’ games as a fan. He said Rutgers, which was in the Big East when he was a child, was never his favorite college football team but always one he pulled for because of its status as the “hometown team.”

Despite his pride and love of the area in which he grew up, Shaw said he knew he always wanted to go away for school. During his recruitment, it came down to corn or wheat and wheat won out, with Shaw landing at Kansas instead of Iowa as initially was the plan.

“He’s really developed,” KU defensive coordinator Clint Bowen said of Shaw. “And actually has become one of our more veteran players. He’s a bigger kid, he’s got some thickness and some strength, so he’s a versatile guy that can hold up in the run game and (he) also has enough athleticism that, in the pass game, he can move and cover some ground.”

Added Shaw, of the growth potential coming to Kansas provided: “I think it’s benefited me socially. I think I can adapt to a lot of different places in the country, wherever my career may lead me.”

This weekend, that stop is a familiar one for the 5-foot-11, 194-pound running-back-turned-safety. And although Shaw will be in his hometown on business and won’t be able to make trips to old haunts like his favorite fat sandwich joint — they put mozzarella sticks and chicken tenders inside the sandwiches — Gianni’s Pizza or his childhood home, the two-year starter viewed his return to the Garden State as one of the highlights of a college career that has included just seven victories in 38 tries.

“It’ll definitely be a nice bonus because I get to play there,” Shaw said. “That’s what I left there doing, playing football, and it’ll be great to be back there playing again.”

Bowen, who grew up in Lawrence and has never been shy about his own love for his hometown, said he always would rather stay as close to Lawrence as possible. But because of the respect he has for the way Shaw has worked after transitioning from running back and made himself into a solid contributor for the Kansas defense, Bowen can’t help but feel happy for Shaw’s chance to return home.

“We only get 12 games and about one (player) a year to take care of,” Bowen joked. “So Tevin’s getting a really special trip. He’s the one New Jersey guy (on the roster) and we’re going to New Jersey so I guess he should feel really special.”