By Jenni Carlson
Staff Writer

NORMAN -- Josh Norman peered through the maze of camera tripods and eyeballed the guy at the interview room podium. He smiled and waved and turned to the reporter sitting next to him in the back of the room.

"You might want to go ...," Norman said.

Oklahoma's junior wide receiver, Norman is used to watching the reporters go. Accustomed sitting in the back and deflecting attention to the guy at the podium.

The Sooners' quarterback.

The Heisman Trophy candidate.

His roommate.

Josh Heupel.

Norman, who has roomed with Heupel since last season, has done his share of interviews during the last few weeks. He's talked to national magazines and large newspapers. He's appeared on major television networks. And the topic is always Heupel.

"People want to talk to me about him," Norman said, smiling. "I enjoy talking about him because he's a great guy. I just don't know when they want to talk to me about me, but hopefully one of these days..."

That day came Saturday.

After OU's 31-14 victory over Nebraska, plenty of folks asked Norman about Norman. He gave them good reason. He blocked a punt, scored on a touchdown run, made a spectacular tackle on a kickoff return, and hit and ran.

On the opening play of the second half, the roommates hooked up on a pass play down the right sideline. Norman caught Heupel's pass about 5 yards downfield, and about 5 more yards downfield stood Nebraska defensive back Joe Walker.

Norman, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound receiver, had tried to stiff-arm defenders in the open field during the last few games but had ended up being run out of bounds.

"Coach (Steve) Spurrier was getting on to me about that," Norman said. "He said, 'I want to see you run through somebody.' "

Norman plowed through Joe Walker and turned a 10-yard gain into a 45-yard one.

"I had to get that one for coach Spurrier," Norman said. "I hope he liked that."

How could he not?

The Huskers are known for their tough-as- nails, grind-and-grit, smash-mouth style. But when Norman smashed Walker, the Sooners made a statement. An anything-you-can-do- we-can-do-better statement.

The Sooners couldn't have asked for a better way to start the second half.

"That," OU coach Bob Stoops said, "is just tough football."

Let's talk about tough for a second. Tough is enduring John Blake's last year as the Sooners' coach. Tough is bouncing from running back to receiver to tight end last season. Tough is Josh Norman.

Heck, it's tough lately to just sit in the apartment that he and Heupel share.

"I can't sit at home for nothing," Norman said. "People calling ... Lord help."

He laughed.

"We need to hire a secretary or something over there."

Norman jokes about it, says he doesn't mind it. And for the most part, that's true. But there has to be a part of him, a teeny, tiny part of him that craves the attention.

Talking about the same guy over and over would be tiresome for anyone.

And for Norman, the biggest part of his job goes unnoticed. He and Damian Mackey play the H position, which involves more run blocking schemes than an outside receiver's position.

"You might not see him on all the catches and all the runs," OU wide receiver Andre Woolfolk said, "but he does a lot of little things. Josh has been having a pretty great season."

Guys like Norman make the difference in a game like Saturday's. Not the marquee players or the big guns or the All-Americans. They are supposed to play well, expected to do it all.

Winning big games comes down to the unknowns.

The Corey Heineckes.

The Jeff Fergusons.

The Roger Steffens.

The Derrick Straits.

The Josh Normans.

"To the outside world," Norman said, "those people are not marquee players. But inside the team, everybody is a marquee player. Everybody has to go out there and play whether they get the glory.

"Although some people may get the glory and the hype after the game, it was 11 men out there going after it."

But still, there are days when people ask you about your roommate after the game.

And then there are days when they shrug off the star, when they don't care about talking to him, when they stay in the back of the room, when they ask you about you.

Jenni Carlson can be reached by e-mail at jcarlson@oklahoman.com.