LINCOLN — There was a time when Chris Brooks was simply faster than everybody else and would outrun defenders down or across the football field.

That was fun. And it was part of what made him a hot prospect coming out of Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis.

Several seasons later, the job couldn't be more different for the fifth-year senior who has been forced to adapt to separate himself from other receivers.

“Coming into this season, I knew we had a lot of guys who could stretch the field,” Brooks said Tuesday. “I kind of felt like my niche was going to be that third-down receiver, where we're getting three and four in the game. It kind of started in the spring game and just carried over into the season.”

Brooks seems to have embraced it.

Among his 13 receptions this season, 11 have produced first downs. One of the other two was an 8-yard play on third-and-9 at Virginia Tech.

As the Huskers tried to get something going Saturday against Texas Tech, quarterback Zac Lee made first-half throws to Brooks of 10 yards on third-and-6 and 26 on third-and-4.

“A clutch play is third down or fourth down,'' Brooks said. “If they're going to have the confidence in me to put the ball in my hands on those downs, I think those are bigger than first and second downs.

“I'm happy who I am. I'm not going to stop doing what I'm doing.''

Brooks has traded flash for consistency to make his biggest contributions after four quiet seasons at NU. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder, who entered the year with three career catches, has caught at least two passes in four of the past five games. He grabbed a career-high five for 66 yards Saturday.

Get open and get beyond the first-down marker. It's what works for him.

“I think he's just been put in situations where he's come through,'' Lee said. “He's gotten the ball and done well with it.''

Brooks always told assistant coach Ted Gilmore that he thought he could help the team, even though the Huskers had receivers such as Nate Swift, Todd Peterson, Terrence Nunn and Maurice Purify in recent seasons. So Brooks just kept trying to do whatever it took to get on the field.

What's different now? Brooks said he's probably a little more mature, more knowledgeable about what Nebraska is trying to do. He realizes where he needs to be to get open or help a teammate get open.

“I'm just getting opportunities now,” he said. “The guys that played before me, they got their opportunity in the NFL, so that says a lot about them. It's not like I was playing behind some pushovers.”

Brooks still isn't guaranteed anything — and hasn't started a game.

Menelik Holt and Niles Paul were viewed as the top returnees before the season. Curenski Gilleylen has stepped up at times. Khiry Cooper, Brandon Kinnie and Antonio Bell are among the younger set trying to steal the playing time that Brooks has worked longer to get.

Yet Brooks said he feels no different pressure than before to produce when he's out there.

“I guess I don't look at it like that,” he said. “When you're in there and your number's called, you just have a job to do. I wouldn't put more pressure on it — like, ‘I've got to do this, I've got to do that' — because that's when mistakes happen. You've just got to play well.”

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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