Eight vehicles, most of them SUVs, all of them with Oklahoma plates, litter the lawn outside the three-bedroom house Trent Smith shares with his QB, Nate Hybl. Inside, a dozen friends and family members lounge around waiting for SportsCenter highlights from OU's 68-0 demolition of UTEP earlier that night. Aside from the fact that his housemate threw him only three passes, life seems good for the Sooners tight end. He has a national championship ring on his finger, a pilot's license in his wallet, an NFL career in his future and his sweetheart -- the 2001 Miss Oklahoma USA -- on his lap.

	The only important thing in Smith's future is another shot at Texas.

After the group watches the highlights for a third time, Smith's mom brings out a huge birthday cake. It's a minute past midnight and Smith has just turned 23, but he isn't exactly whooping it up. He hugs his folks, gives Miss Oklahoma a big goodnight kiss and retreats to his bedroom.

Smith's room is festooned with Sooner football. On the far wall is his offensive MVP plaque from last season. Above his bed hangs a poster-size photo of the team piled on top of one another, celebrating after the 2000 title game. It's the photo every program aspires to, and there's Trent, shaggy hair mussed up, all dimples, right there in the middle. He loved that photo the moment he saw it, and he loves it even more now.

Trent plops himself down in front of his computer, which has a screensaver of a 2-year-old flipping the bird with the caption, "Hey Simms, I got your Heisman right here." He downloads a video of OU's 2001 season that he's seen so often he knows which play comes next. "Wait 'til you see this hit Roy makes," he says just before Sooner great Roy Williams decleats an Oklahoma State ball carrier. The montage ends after about 10 minutes, and Smith sits silently for a moment, nostalgic at 23.

During that night's blowout of UTEP, Smith stood on the sideline next to OU's freshman kicker Trey DiCarlo. DiCarlo was yapping about something when Smith asked him how old he was. Seventeen, DiCarlo replied. Suddenly, Smith felt like the crusty college guy hanging out at a high school party. "What am I still doing here?" he thought. "I'm that guy people call 'old man.' That's not right. I should call somebody else that."

Smith was part of a stellar recruiting class featuring Williams, OT Frank Romero and LB Rocky Calmus, the group that brought greatness back to Norman. OU was 5–6 in its first year under then-coach John Blake but grew up quickly with new coach Bob Stoops. Williams went from chubby tweener to Nagurski winner; Romero from scrawny 210-pound DE to thick-necked 295-pound OT; Calmus from 200-pound reed to 235-pound Butkus winner. But now they're gone. Roy's a Dallas Cowboy; Frank, a Detroit Lion; Rocky, a Tennessee Titan.

Trent is still in Norman, where he has grown from a 201-pound project into the favorite to win the Mackey Award. Truth is, it wasn't his idea to stick around another year. He wanted to jump early, just like Roy (Romero and Rocky had used up their eligibility). Smith's 61 catches ranked tops nationally among tight ends. But when he asked his position coach, ex-NFL TE Jonathan Hayes, about leaving early, Hayes laughed in his face. Discussion over. "His advice is like the word of God," Smith says.

Hayes felt Smith wouldn't be ready until he showed he could block, something he hadn't done much while lining up in the slot. This season, the Sooners have established themselves as a more physical offense, keeping Smith in the box more. A lean 6'5", 242 pounds, Smith doesn't have the jowled, unshaven look of a mauler or the bulging biceps of a weight-room freak. He's like a giant version of Jason Biggs. But don't be fooled, he's one of OU's strongest players. He can bench 275 pounds 11 times, and hopes to bench 225 at the NFL Combine 20 times -- four more than Giants first-rounder Jeremy Shockey did at a predraft workout. Not bad for a guy who can run a 4.5 40. Coach Hayes says anyone doubting Smith is kidding himself. "All you gotta do is turn on the Alabama tape," he says of OU's 37-27 win. "Watch how he drives people off the line."

Trent celebrates his birthday over lunch with his family before getting treatment at the Barry Switzer Center. OU's training room is a wall-to-wall M.A.S.H. unit of crimson covered tables. Trent reclines with an ice bag on his left elbow and a tobacco spit cup in his right hand to watch the Cowboys-Titans game on the tube. A year ago, Trent wouldn't have cared a lick about this game, but now it's Roy's team vs. Rocky's team, and to be honest, Smith's not quite sure how to feel about that.

"Everything should feel storybook," Smith says. "But it doesn't."

Smith knows he still has business to take care of. And maybe on Oct. 12, against the hated cows from Texas, Smith might get that ol' college spirit back. "I gotta go out with a win against Texas," he says. "That's why you come to OU, to beat those guys. People from Texas hate us. People from here hate Texas. I guess I was programmed to be a Sooner."

For now.

This article appears in the October 14 issue of ESPN The Magazine.