Candidate Osborne will be at the Oklahoma game

Thursday, October 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) _ Long a fixture on the Nebraska sidelines, Tom Osborne will find himself in unfamiliar territory Saturday when the top-ranked Nebraska football renews its rivalry with the Oklahoma Sooners.

The former Nebraska coach and now 3rd District Congressional candidate will watch the game from the stands.

As part of his trip to Norman, Okla., Osborne plans to attend a fund-raiser to stump for a former standout Oklahoma player, Rep. J.C. Watts, R-Okla.

Osborne said the event was planned by Watts' campaign several months ago. ``That was before either one of us knew this was going to be a big game,'' Osborne said.

The Republican cited his conservative nature when asked who would win Saturday's game. He's leaning toward the team which can run the ball.

Osborne said like most big games, it will probably come down to who gets a couple of turnovers and the breaks in the kicking game.

``It may be a pretty tight fit,'' Osborne said.

The last time Nebraska and Oklahoma met on the football field, Osborne was on the sidelines, directing the Cornhuskers to a 69-7 victory in Lincoln. That victory gave Osborne 250 career wins.

Osborne retired at the end of the 1997 season with a 255-49-3 record.

In Osborne's 25 years at Nebraska, he compiled a 13-13 record against the Sooners. The teams played twice in 1978.

Osborne is running for Congress against Democratic challenger Rollie Reynolds, a Grand Island real estate investor.