Oklahoma had been in the position before. For the third straight week, it was entering the fourth quarter with the game on the line.

It had failed against Colorado two weeks earlier. Texas had gone toe-to-toe with the Sooners last week until the knockout shot was finally delivered in the final minutes.

There’s no doubt familiarity with the situation is a blessing, not a curse. No. 6 OU rose the occasion once again and dropped No. 11 Missouri 41-31 Saturday night at Owen Field.

“When you play an undefeated team like they are you can’t expect to make all the plays or to not have any tough situations that you have to play through.” Sooner coach Bob Stoops said.

After running roughshod over their first four opponents, the Sooners once again had to go the distance. Saturday night’s tilt, however, was for Big 12 Conference supremacy.

The Tigers (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) were trying to stake their claim as the conference’s super power and were close, very close, to planting their flag at the mountaintop when Jimmy Jackson busted into the end zone with 90 seconds left in the third quarter to give the Tigers a 24-23 lead.

The Sooners (6-1, 2-1) were far from hitting on all cylinders. The biggest reason Missouri was leading was a pair of Juaquin Iglesias fumbles that led to two touchdowns.

But that’s when the Sooners’ lights went from flickering to burning bright.

Chris Brown rushed for three touchdowns, with two coming in the fourth quarter, and linebacker Curtis Lofton scooped up a fumble and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown to solidify the Sooners as the midseason king of the Big 12 while still climbing in the national polls.

“Every game isn’t going to be a blowout. We talk about that all the time,” Brown said. “They were a great team coming in and we knew we were going to have our hands full with those guys. We just had to bite down and handle it like men.”

The game contained all the offensive fireworks most expected with two of the highest-scoring teams in the nation battling back and forth.

The quarterback duel between OU’s Sam Bradford and Missouri’s Chase Daniel was nearly a draw.

Bradford completed 24-of-34 attempts for 266 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns. Daniel was 37-for-47 for 361 and one touchdown.

The difference was the turnovers. Bradford was flawless in that regard. Daniel wasn’t, getting picked off twice as part of a three-interception night for the Tigers.

“In big games like this, generally the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win, and that’s what happened,” Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said.