Oklahoma State’s massive turnaround coincides with the moment Ollie Gordon became a more seasoned version of who he was at Euless Trinity. He faces a similar challenge this weekend in the Big 12 Championship against Texas as he did three years ago just a mile down the road from AT&T Stadium.

It was the 6A Division regional semifinal against Allen inside Choctaw Stadium.

Gordon's Trinity team was a sizeable underdog against the Dallas-area powerhouse and Gordon was a then-uncommitted junior who was on a few radars as an emerging prospect but nowhere near the household name amongst Texas high school football brass that he became.

Nearly 50 carries and 455 yards later, everyone knew who Ollie Gordon was. The Trojans beat Allen, 49-45. Joe Hoyt, now the Dallas Cowboys reporter for Lone Star Live, was the Dallas Morning News high school writer on-hand for the display.

“Ollie’s gonna have to have a Herculean effort if they're going to do it, and it's going to probably take more than that,” Hoyt remembered thinking. “I don't think anyone anticipated what Ollie would actually do.

“He just kept going and you think, okay, in the third quarter he’s gonna run out of steam and no, he just kept going and going and ultimately it was enough to break through a team that you know, was better. Ollie just put the team on his back.”

Jaquinden Jackson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Ollie Gordon. If you knocked off Allen early in the playoffs during that time, your name was etched in Texas high school football lore. Trinity team was eventually defeated by Quinn Ewers’ Southlake Carroll in the regional final, a player he’ll see again this weekend. In the middle of that game, news broke that Texas had fired Tom Herman and it quickly spread that Steve Sarkisian would soon be hired.

A month later, Gordon committed to Oklahoma State where he remained loyal until eventually signing there in winter 2021. But it wasn’t without a late push from Texas and Sarkisian to sway his opinion.

"Like 12 hours before signing day, as soon as somebody else told them no” Gundy cheekily confirmed during the weekly press conference.

But Gordon kept his word to OSU.

“I felt disrespected by Texas,” Gordon said. “They had me like sixth on the depth chart and I knew that wasn’t supposed to be. The only thing it was, was why would (Texas) come so late? Obviously, they weren’t paying attention to my film before.”

Now everyone’s seen his film. All of the film. Gordon's leading the nation in rushing (1,580 yards) despite only really hitting the ground running in late September. He had a combined 109 yards on 18 carries through three games before averaging over 163 yards on the ground since.

He’s the only Oklahoma State running back other than Barry Sanders to have back-to-back 200-yard performances and to rush for five touchdowns in a single game. He was named the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year earlier this week as well. He has the breakaway highlight plays but similarly to his time at Trinity, the persistence is his biggest strength.

“Ollie Gordon is a heck of a player and they have done a great job offensively of leaning into him and he really signifies who their team is,” Sarkisian said. “I feel like he gets stronger as the game goes on like a lot of big, physical backs do.

“Your defensive line and linebackers have to do a great job of fitting those things and then you’re got to tackle. Generally, with a guy like him, one guy is not enough. Our ability to populate the ball Saturday and fit these runs right is going to be critical.”

When the Cowboys faced a 24-6 deficit against BYU last week, a game they needed to clinch a Big 12 Championship spot, the team never changed course – feed Ollie. The game-winning touchdown in double overtime exemplified him as a runner. He was met in the backfield, stiff-armed a defender five yards behind the line of scrimmage, reversed course and leapt a defensive back into the endzone.

“It was either he stuffs me, or I get in and honestly I wasn’t about to get tackled one-on-one by a corner or a DB,” Gordon said.

He’ll face his toughest challenge this season by far against Texas’ interior maulers T’Vondre Sweat and Byron Murphy. But that won’t alter Oklahoma State’s gameplan. Hoyt remembers what now-retired Euless Trinity head coach Chris Jensen told him after the game.

“I think the really good teams don’t have a lot of secrets,” Jensen told the Dallas Morning News. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do. … You have some wrinkles here and there, but it’s just whoever does what they do best.”