This week the rivalry, always “the game” for fans from the two states, has plenty of national implications. The winner between top-ranked Oklahoma and the fifth-ranked Longhorns will be in the driver’s seat for a shot at a national championship - even if it is a long road ahead with a very crowded Big 12 slate featuring six teams in the current top 25 rankings.

Bobby Iglesias Sr., owner of Iglesias Hair Designs on 31st Street in Temple, treats the heated rivalry in a good-natured way even though his son Juaquin, a Killeen High School graduate, is now a fourth-year starter at wide receiver for Oklahoma.

Bobby will be making the drive up I-35 once more this year, but he says he pays little attention to vehicles displaying the burnt orange and white of UT.

“They notice me going up and down the road more than I notice them,” said Bobby, whose truck sports OU decals and flags.

“I think they’re telling me that I’m No. 1,” he said with a laugh. “I’m hoping that’s what it is.”

Iglesias received a strong thumbs up from at least one UT fan in Temple.

“Bobby is a wonderful person and a great hairstylist,” said regular customer Mary Ann Ray, a season ticket holder to Longhorn games whose parents took her to her first UT game when she was 7 months old.

“He’s 100 percent Sooner, . . . but he doesn’t let it affect his relationship with people,” Ms. Ray said.

“I’ve kidded with Bobby, ‘Don’t be carving an OU in the back of my head,’” she said, adding he gives her a “little evil grin or chuckle.”

The two teams play each year in a stadium about halfway between the Austin and Norman, Okla., campuses, with Cotton Bowl seating divided between the schools along the 50-yard line.

There are some divided loyalties from buddies back home over Juaquin’s playing for the Sooners.

A blog by Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman quoted Juaquin as saying, “People just always say the same thing - ‘Man, I root for you, and I cheer for you, but when you play Texas, I’ll still root for you but I won’t root for your team.’”

Bobby said the crowds at the Texas-OU games have a love-hate relationship that is special.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience just to go to a game,” he said.

The first time he attended the Red River Rivalry was 2004, with OU recruiting his son and taking a 12-0 victory over Texas.

“We’ve been on the up and down side of those games,” he said.

He also has been on the other side of a rivalry with Temple as his sons played for the Killeen Kangaroos. Bobby noted he likes to joke and have fun with fans of all the teams.

“It’s just a game,” he pointed out.

He said his son calls his business a barbershop because it sounds “more manly,” but the retired Army veteran who remained in Killeen after being stationed at Fort Hood doesn’t mind calling himself a hair stylist.

His son has been doing his styling on the field.

Berry Tramel, columnist for The Oklahoman, called Iglesias OU’s most underrated player earlier this year.

After being second on the team in receptions and yards in 2006, Juaquin was the leading receiver for the Sooners last season in both catches and yards, earning him an honorable mention on the all-Big 12 team. He also returns kicks, with his 826 yards on kickoff returns last year setting OU’s single-season record.

He started off strong as a freshman, catching the winning touchdown pass in a double-overtime thriller against Baylor in 2005. Bobby proudly displays a photo of the catch on the wall of his salon along with other sports-related items, including plenty of Sooners material, some San Antonio Spurs items and even a Kansas State banner. Bobby explained that Kansas State recruited his older son, Bobby Jr., who played at Cisco Junior College.

The elder Iglesias said Juaquin plans to graduate with a sociology degree this spring and hopes to carry his football success on to the NFL.

Still, around Temple, Bobby said a lot of people don’t know his son plays for Oklahoma - he doesn’t like to brag about it.

Bobby said he was thankful for the friends, family and fans of all the teams - Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor and others - who have made it possible for him to be able to go to so many of his son’s games.

“He would have gone anywhere,” Bobby said, noting Juaquin almost went to a University of Texas - just the one in El Paso.

Bobby said Juaquin turned Oklahoma down twice before committing to the team for good.

And it has been a good thing, the father and Juaquin’s former high school coach agree.

“I think Oklahoma was a great fit for him,” Killeen coach Sam Jones said, noting that even listening to Juaquin in an interview he’s more confident and mature.

“He’s done a lot of hard work,” Bobby Iglesias said. “He’s done it all.”