NORMAN — Drake Stoops wasn't interested in entertaining the idea.

On Monday at Everest Training Center — 48 hours after the Sooners fell 27-24 to Oklahoma State, their second consecutive loss — the sixth-year senior was asked if his team still had anything left to play for this season. The OSU loss didn't just deal a death blow to the Sooners' College Football Playoff hopes, it also knocked them out of the driver's seat for the Big 12 title game.

But Stoops wasn't hearing any of that.

"That's natural," Stoops said. "But I come in here day in and day out, spend 10 hours up here every day, and for me, there's a lot left to play for. I bust my tail year-round for this. For six years now. So I'm not really listening to what people say. I don't care if we're 0-8 right now. I'm playing ball because I love to play football. I love my teammates. I love my coaches. I love the University of Oklahoma.

"I got a lot of pride for this place. So I'm gonna go hard every single day and do everything I possibly can to see us win."

Stoops' rallying cry resonated with the OU fanbase and the college football world at large. The video of the exchange has been seen over two million times on X (formerly known as Twitter). The post has even been shared by the OU football program's X account and by ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit.

But for those who know Stoops well, none of it came as a surprise. That includes Brent Barnes, who coached Stoops at Norman North High School from 2014-2017.

Barnes, now the head coach at Yukon High School, saw the video and shared it with his players earlier this week. For Barnes, it was the perfect example of Stoops' character and a message worth following for his team.

“As soon as I saw it, I literally laughed out loud because that’s just who he is," Barnes told OUInsider. "It was great to see that response catch on like it did. He’s a competitor. He means every word he said. It wouldn't make any difference what their record was or what any situation is, that guy’s gonna compete. He has a passion and a pride for what he does and for the people around him and for the program he’s in.

“Honestly it kind of gave me chills to a degree just because I know him. I just love how that came out. I think that was just a great message."

Barnes saw that attitude and competitiveness up close during Stoops' tenure at Norman North.

Stoops entered the program in 2014 as a freshman and didn't see much playing time initially. Stoops, listed by OU as 5-foot-10 and 189 pounds, has never been the tallest or fastest player on his team, but his work ethic quickly made an impression on the coaching staff.

Heading into his sophomore season, things began to change.

“First and foremost, Drake’s one of the most — I don’t even want to say one of, he is probably the most competitive person I’ve ever been around in my time in coaching," Barnes said. "The greatest example of that was, he’s going into his sophomore year and in the summer we’d run 36 45-yard shuttles timed at the end of every summer. Drake won 36 out of 36 as a gonna-be sophomore, so hasn’t even started his sophomore year yet.

“I wouldn’t say at that point in time he was the fastest player on our team. But running a 45-yard shuttle is about competitiveness and toughness. That’s what he proved right then and there. There was no doubt from that point forward what kind of player he was gonna be for us."

That hard work earned him real opportunities on the field. He appeared in 10 games as a sophomore, reeling in 48 receptions for 761 yards and four touchdowns.

But Stoops isn't one to be satisfied. He had another level he could reach. He had his breakout season as a junior, catching 86 passes for 1,536 yards and 20 touchdowns. Oh, and he helped lead the Timberwolves to the Class 6A-I state championship game, the program's first and only appearance.

But even as Stoops was making plays on the field, it was his leadership off the field that stood out most to Barnes.

"That was one thing that I loved about him is he was always a great teammate," Barnes said. "It takes time to grow into it, but he was always a leader because he was always that guy doing everything and then some. He raised the bar for our whole program at Norman North by what he was doing. You add the fact that you can really tell he truly cares about his teammates. He truly cares about their success.

"It wasn't a coincidence that we had the best season in the history of Norman North while he was there."

So, of course, Stoops' emphatic message on Monday and his performances this season haven't surprised Barnes

In his six seasons as a Sooner, Stoops has grown from a former walk-on to an instrumental part of the team's passing attack. This season he leads the team in receptions with 52 — that's 13 more than he'd caught in any season prior — to go with a career-high 528 yards and six touchdowns. He's had his fair share of big plays in big moments, whether that's the two passes for 39 yards he caught on the game-winning drive against Texas or his 12-catch, 134-yard performance in the loss to Oklahoma State.

He's become a security blanket for OU quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who has targeted Stoops 64 times this season, per Pro Football Focus. Stoops has a catch rate of 81.3%, the highest of any player on the team with at least 15 targets.

“Drake is… he’s unreal, honestly," Gabriel said on Monday. "He’s always open. He’s a competitor. He’s my best friend, someone I am very close to with the connection and him as a player. I’m biased a little bit. But even my bias aside, I think his play speaks for itself. I think just the way he plays, it’s inspiring and it’s motivating and having a guy like him right by me is something I’m really grateful for.”

But as important as he's become on the field, his leadership has always been a constant. That's been particularly true as of late. The Sooners began the season 7-0 but have since dropped close games to Kansas and Oklahoma State. But through it all, Stoops has remained a steady figure in the locker room.

"His leadership is always good and that’s what good leadership does," OU coach Brent Venables told OUInsider on Tuesday. "Leadership isn’t a position, it’s action. He’s always represented that since I’ve known him. He cares deeply. If you care a little more, you’re gonna do a little more. That’s the challenge for us as coaches to get guys that care a little more. Guys that care more about their opportunity, care more about their teammates, care more about this time in their life, the opportunity to put the crimson and cream on. All those things.

"He represents all the things you want — leadership, toughness, investment, work ethic. He got a great edge to him. He’s very competitive. He loves his teammates and loves the game. He makes everyone around him better. He’s as popular and as good a leader as we have."

Things feel a little bit different than they did a month ago for the Sooners as they approach the final three games of the regular season. They'll need a few things to go their way if they hope to return to the Big 12 title game.

But Stoops' effort, leadership and consistency are things that fans don't have to worry about.

"There's a lot left to play for," Stoops said. "And shoot, we may not control our whole destiny right now, but you never know. College football is a crazy game. Who knows what could happen? I still feel that anything could happen. I'm not gonna make predictions or anything like that, but if we take care of our job and finish the last three games and finish at 10-2, that's a good, promising year. And who knows where we end up after that?"