He doesn’t seek out the spotlight or dream up plans for a section of Memorial Stadium to pay him tribute on game day.

If Carl Nesmith High’s safety sidekick on the Kansas University football team is The Butcher, High might just as well be the Baker or Candlestick Maker.

“The interesting thing about Kareem,” KU coach Terry Allen said, “is that he’s a junior college player, but he’s not a flashy junior college player. He’s just a lunch-box guy, a yeoman, a hard worker who just goes out and gets the job done.”

Nesmith a preseason All-American by some who has encouraged fans to wave cleavers while sporting mock blood in the “Butcher Shop” section of Memorial soaks up the attention; High all but avoids it.

“I’m ‘the other safety,'” High said with a smirk. “I don’t have a nickname. I’m just Kareem, or K-High. And it doesn’t bother me. I’ve always had the mentality, just play the game and try not to get caught up in it. I mean, Carl’s a great player, and I get fired up seeing him make a big hit. I’d like to be the kind of player the fans or media would like to talk to, but I’ve got the respect of my teammates and my coaches, and that’s all that matters to me.”

While High is yin to Nesmith’s yang in terms of PR and outspokenness, the two had similar seasons last year.

Both were first-year jucos who struggled early on, though High went through spring drills and had a head start while Nesmith had to come to terms with moving to safety from wide receiver.

By season’s end, both players had played in all 12 games, but High started from Day One, while Nesmith only started the final five games.

High, KU’s 5-foot-10, 250-pound strong safety, finished with 76 total tackles, four tackles for losses, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and four passes broken up.

Nesmith, a 6-3, 215-pound free safety, had 89 total stops, a sack, three tackles for losses, a forced fumble, two fumble recoveries, three interceptions, five passes broken up and a block.

“You have to have guys like Kareem, guys who go out and get the job done,” Allen said. “If we had two Carl’s out there, yeah, there might be a clash of egos. That’s why I think they’re such a good fit. They’re very complementary.”

High, a Garland, Texas, native, agreed.

“We work together very well,” he said. “We communicate, and we’re good friends off the field. We like playing together.”

High is eager for the start of his final season.

“It’s my senior year,” he said. “Am I looking forward to it? I’ve been waiting for this all my life, to finish off my college career with a good year. It’ll be fun whatever happens, but in my mind anything less that a bowl game would be a disappointment.”

In hopes of snapping a string of four seasons without a bowl bid, the Jayhawks revamped their defense and plan to run more 4-3 defensive alignments in place of the 3-4 primarily used the past three seasons.

The point of the change is to help shore up a pass defense that last season ranked last in the Big 12.

“I wouldn’t say it’s simpler, but it’s more basic,” High said. “We’ll be able to check off more. I’m looking forward to it. Last year, it took a while to get used to what was going on. Now we know what’s going on.”