More from Norman Cheap shots Local sports shops are stocking up on "Battle of the Big Reds" apparel this week, with the most entertaining shirt thus far one that was spotted on campus Thursday, taking plenty of jabs at the Huskers. It reads: "The Top Six Things You'll Never Hear a Nebraskan Say": 1. Wrasslin' is fake. 2. Come to think of it, I'll have a Heineken. 3. Havin' those kids in the back of that there pickup ain't safe. 4. I'll take Shakespeare for $1,000, Alex. 5. Checkmate. 6. It's a beautiful thing being back here in Norman. Only problem is somebody for got to tell the locals most of those countdowns work in descending order. A call for help First-year Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who installed Oklahoma's wide-open offense in Norman last year, got a call from Sooner coach Bob Stoops recently, with Stoops inquiring about Tech's loss to Nebraska. Leach had plenty to say, as the Huskers stomped Tech 56-3 two weeks ago. "We visited about how the game went, what he felt they could've done better, stuff like that," Stoops said. "Nothing too specific, though." For over-analytical Sooner fans weary of the Tech outcome, Stoops said it hardly pertains. "We're much different than they are I'm sure," he said. Riding the wave Taking advantage of the Oklahoma football renaissance, the Sooner athletics department announced Thursday an increase in its ongoing fund raising project from $25 to $100 million. The money will be used for renovations to Memorial Stadium, including an upper deck on the stadium's east side, expanded locker rooms, new press box and luxury suites. The new capacity of the stadium, which currently seats around 72,000, will be in excess of 80,000. Other projects include an indoor practice facility for the football team, a new soccer complex and tennis center. More than 6,000 individuals have already supported the campaign, a 40-percent increase in contributors over the past two years. "OU intends to reach the highest possible standard of excellence in our athletic programs," University president David L. Boren said. "Championship programs require top-flight facilities, and this drive will bring OU into the ranks of the nation's best." NORMAN, Okla. - If there was a Grand Marshal for this game, someone to sit in the head car and lead the Nebraska-Oklahoma parade, it would probably be Barry Switzer. The former Sooner coach, thanks in part to the open arms of the football program and a wily personality, is as popular as ever in these parts. Everywhere you turn, on television, the radio, in the newspapers, there's Switzer, offering his take on this weekend's game. Take Wednesday night for example, when Switzer spent more than an hour at a campus bar as a promotion for the local sports talk radio station. Switzer answered questions, signed autographs and was his normal chummy self. "I've had more damn interviews this week than I did the when I was with the Cowboys for the Super Bowl," he said. "I really have." And it isn't getting easier. Prior to Saturday's game, Switzer will join former Nebraska coach Tom Osborne at a fund raiser for U.S. representative J.C. Watts. "And don't anyone show up unless you bring some money," he said. After that, Switzer will head to the field for interviews with ESPN Gameday, ABC and any other local affiliate looking for colorful sound bites. The love affair between Switzer and the people in this area is of mythic proportions. After all, Switzer is the school's all-time winningest coach, having led the Sooners to three national championships, 12 Big 8 Conference championships and eight bowl wins in his 16 years at Oklahoma. "He is undeniably the man around here," said Norman resident Brett Clark, who snuck out of work a half-hour early Wednesday to see Switzer. "And it's great to see that he's back around, sharing his stories and insight." Wednesday, the bar turned silent when Switzer spoke. Until he talked about great Sooner wins, at which time the place erupted. No story was more entertaining than that about a stunt Switzer pulled in 1980 on then-Nebraska athletics director Bob Devaney. The Sooners, 7-2 prior to that year's Nebraska game, had arranged an agreement with the Sun Bowl that if they lost to the Huskers, they would head to El Paso. Nebraska wanted no part of such an agreement. "Nebraska was stuck-up. They just wanted Orange or bust, Orange or bust. They thought they were the better team." When the Sooners landed in Lincoln the Friday before the game, signs were everywhere promoting an Oklahoma trip to the Sun Bowl. "Switzer loves Tacos," one sign red. Later that night, while he was doing a live shot for the Oklahoma NBC affiliate, Switzer noticed the studio for Devaney's weekly show. So Switzer asked a stagehand to run to the Taco Bell and get some Mexican food that Switzer could surprise Devaney with on the set. "I knew the Nebraska players were probably sitting in their hotel watching the Devaney show and my players were too," he said. "And nobody had any idea I was fixing to walk out and unknown to Devaney say, 'Hey Bob, here's some Tacos, get used to them." So that's just what Switzer did. The next day, the Sooners upset Nebraska 21-17 and went Orange Bowl. Nebraska, in a sudden change of heart, accepted a bid to the Sun Bowl. While that story drew a charge from the crowd in attendance, so did one about the 1988 Oklahoma-Nebraska game, Switzer's last against the Cornhuskers. Well after Nebraska's 7-3 victory, which earned the Huskers a trip to the Orange Bowl to face Miami, Devaney found a giggling Switzer in the Oklahoma locker room. "He said, 'Well, what are you so happy about?' " Switzer recalled. "And I said, 'What I'm happy about is that I don't have to go play Miami - you guys got to. I've already had three shots at them and I can't beat the bastards, so let's see if you can.' "They went down there and Miami beat the hell out of them in the Orange Bowl. So then he knew why I was laughing." For all the fun and laughs the Switzer appearance brought about, the former Sooner coach weaseled his way out of a pregame prediction, flexing some of that old media managing talent. "I'm not going to pick a score," when pressed by the radio host. "C'mon, c'mon, pick a score," the host responded. "We want a score. I'm not going to tell anybody." "I've been asked that question all week and I've said the team that makes the fewest mistakes will win," Switzer replied. Cliché, cliché. So the DJ shot back cleverly, "Well, who's going to make the fewest mistakes then?" Switzer: "Tell you what -- on Saturday we're going to find out."