NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Tarin Clark vividly remembers the first time he sprinted onto Owen Field field alongside the Sooner Schooner, Oklahoma’s iconic covered wagon mascot.

It was 2017, and he was a new member of the RUF/NEKS, the all-male spirit group that helps maintain the Schooner and its ponies. He could barely collect his thoughts as he proudly carried a United States flag after the Sooners scored against Tulane.

“When they say it’s like you’re getting shot out of a cannon, they’re not lying,” said Clark, now the adviser for the RUF/NEKS. “You’re really kind of enclosed in that tunnel. And then next thing you know, the Schooner takes off. Everybody takes off, we’re getting all rowdy. And then you look up and it opens up just wide, right in front of you -- 86,000 people just screaming

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