But how many recall Webb’s game-losing field-goal attempt against Texas Tech the year before?

Webb certainly hasn’t forgotten the Tech clunker.

“That was my lowest moment,” Webb said. “That’s one feeling I never want to have again. That’s what makes me work hard.”

Webb, now a Kansas University junior football player, actually blew two field-goal attempts late in that dismal 31-30 loss to the Red Raiders in 2004 at Memorial Stadium.

First, Webb misfired badly from 45 yards, then his 43-yard attempt struck an upright and bounced away with 3:46 remaining, assuring the ’04 team of blowing the largest lead in school history. The Jayhawks had bolted to a 30-5 bulge just before halftime.

Webb was a red-shirt freshman in ’04 and had been elevated to No. 1 place-kicker just that week after veteran Johnny Beck had blown four of six attempts.

Then, a year and a half later, Webb went from the outhouse to the penthouse when his 34-yard field goal in overtime against ISU made the Jayhawks bowl-eligible.

But that was then, and this is 2006.

“There was too much hype around it,” Webb said of his boot against the Cyclones. “That’s in the past now. I’d rather have a bigger moment someday.”

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Webb, who prepped at Union High in Tulsa, Okla., shouldn’t lack for opportunities over his last two college seasons. He made a respectable 14 of 19 field-goal tries in ’05, and obviously hopes to improve on that percentage this fall and next.

“I’m becoming more consistent at it,” Webb said.

Consistency has been his forte. Distance hasn’t, although he has improved in that area.

“A ton,” said KU aide Clint Bowen, who coached the kickers last season. “People will see he’s really developed some distance. I’d put him in the 48-yard range.”

To put that in perspective, however, a 48-yard field goal wouldn’t even rank Webb among the 20 longest field goals in school history. Dan Eichloff established the school-record with a 61-yarder in 1991, three years after the NCAA banned the use of tees on field goal attempts.

Now the NCAA has taken another step aimed at reducing kicker’s effectiveness by reducing the height of the kickoff tee from two inches to one inch in hopes of reducing the number of touchbacks.

In theory, this new rule will penalize kickers – like Webb – who don’t have thunder legs. How much of an effect the shorter tee will have on Webb’s kickoffs remains to be seen, however.

“There won’t be a drastic change,” Bowen said. “He (Webb) wasn’t a propped-up tee guy anyway.”

Webb isn’t expecting any decline, either.

“I’ve been working with the new tee all summer,” he said, “and I’m getting acclimated to it.”

The new tee certainly won’t be as much of an adjustment as it was when Webb went from kicking extra points and field goals with a tee in high school – they’re still used in the prep ranks – to kicking without one in college.

“There’s a huge learning curve,” Webb said. “It’s a different game. The players are bigger and faster and you have a lot more people watching you, and going from a tee to the ground was definitely a challenge.”

Still, as Yogi Berra might put it, 90 percent of kicking is half mental, and not even the strongest leg can overcome a pounding heart, a tight throat and sweaty palms.

Webb may not have the strongest leg in the world, but he does possess consummate cool.

Or as KU punter and sideline mate Kyle Tucker said of Webb: “He’s confident. That’s the big thing. You have to be able to stay relaxed in pressure situations, and he’s pretty good at that.”