Like a lot of America, the OU football program has been notorious for recruiting players from the state of Texas. Some of this year’s team’s most notable contributors hail from the Lone Star State.

That’s just more fuel to the fire that is the Red River Rivalry. It isn’t just a big deal to the players and schools involved — it extends to hometowns and high schools.

Sophomore offensive lineman Ben Habern was born in Argyle, Texas, and attended high school at Liberty Christian, less than an hour away from Dallas, the site of the annual OU-Texas game.

Habern said he always viewed OU-Texas as the single-biggest rivalry in all of college sports, even before he knew he would be attending OU.

“When I was a kid, growing up in Texas, I pretty much was brainwashed,” Habern said. “I started watching Oklahoma football when I understood it. So when it was that OU-Texas game, it was always the biggest game of the year.”

Senior defensive back Jonathan Nelson, who is from Arlington, Texas, said that for as long as he can remember, OU-Texas was a big deal among his peers.

“Every year, around OU-Texas time, there would always be kids that would wear their Texas shirts or their OU shirts to school,” Nelson said.

Nelson said he never had a preference between OU and Texas as a kid, although his brother was an OU fan.

“I liked players on the OU side, and I also liked players on the Texas side,” Nelson said. “My brother, though, he’s always liked OU over Texas, so maybe that’s part of the reason I came to OU.”

Both Nelson and Habern were influenced by family preferences in the OU-Texas rivalry. However, they both were close to some people they disagreed with.

“None of my family members were Texas fans, but I know a lot of my high school coaches were big Texas fans,” Habern said. “So it was a joke when I’d come to school or go to practice.”

Nelson said some of his teachers took some shots at him when they found out he was going to play at OU.

“I always had teachers that would say, ‘Oh, you’re going to OU, but I still love you,’” Nelson said. “I don’t know how many times I heard that line.”

Even though they take some heat every now and then for becoming Sooners, Habern and Nelson said the pride of playing football for OU outweighs anything that anyone could say.

“My high school coach was probably the biggest Texas fan you’ll ever meet,” Habern said. “He is proud of me, but sometimes he gives me a hard time about it. But I can’t help it. I grew up watching Oklahoma football, and that’s what I know.”