That’s especially true for Ian Campbell, who moves back and forth from defensive end to linebacker depending on the formation. Campbell was switched to linebacker primarily to take advantage of his playmaking skills. He then went out and had one of the biggest plays of his career during one of his scattered plays at defensive end.

In K-State’s 41-21 victory over Texas last week, Campbell jumped to bat down a pass attempt by UT quarterback Colt McCoy. Campbell ended up catching the ball, then darted left and got an escort for a 41-yard interception return for a touchdown. It propeled the Wildcats to victory and gave them momentum heading into today’s 11 a.m. game against Kansas University.

“I probably wouldn’t have anticipated that,” Campbell said. “I’ve seen a lot of defensive ends in the past here make similar plays. It’s something I always wanted to do, whether it was a strip sack or knock down a ball and chase after it. I didn’t think it would fall into my hands like that, but you’ve got to be ball-aware.”

Campbell, a Cimarron native, has emerged as a huge surprise for the Wildcats. Like Jordy Nelson, KSU’s standout wide receiver, Campbell enrolled at K-State as a walk-on before transitioning into an All-Big 12 talent.

Campbell had 67 tackles last year, tops for a defensive lineman in the Big 12. But with Kansas State switching to a base 3-4 defense prior to the 2007 season, the coaching staff figured a natural pocket pest like Campbell would be better suited as one of the rushing outside linebackers.

“Being able to have the opportunity to perhaps put him in a position to where we can best use his talent was a number one priority for us here in the offseason,” K-State coach Ron Prince said over the summer.

So far, Campbell has totaled 14 tackles and that huge interception switching back and forth.

“I’m starting to enjoy linebacker a lot more,” Campbell said. “I’m getting a lot more comfortable doing it. We’ve only have 25, 35 practices playing outside linebacker as opposed to a couple hundred playing defensive end. I just have to get used to it.”

Still, Campbell already has found a perk, which he hopes play to his advantage today.

“It can be a lot of fun, because they don’t know where I’m at,” Campbell said. “That makes kind of a nice aspect. I’m not just at left end the whole time and they can’t just point me out.”