There was a time a few years ago when Mark Dambach didn't know that the University of Kansas was in Lawrence.

Dambach has to be a smart man. After all, he works as a biomedical supervisor at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

"I'm a history buff, and I know about the raids during the Civil War, but I had no idea KU was there," Dambach said.

Dambach is much more familiar with KU and Lawrence these days. His son, Jackson High graduate Travis Dambach, has spent the last five years as a KU football player. Last Saturday, Mark and his wife, Lisa, were on hand for pregame ceremonies at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence on Senior Day.

The Dambachs were on the field after the game, too, celebrating the Jayhawks' somewhat surprising 39-20 victory over Kansas State, which had knocked off Texas the previous week. About 30 friends and family were on hand to watch Travis, a 6-foot-5, 295-pound starting right guard, play his final home game.

Now comes the fun part. Travis and the Jayhawks head to Columbia on Saturday for a Border Showdown against Missouri.

The Dambach family won't need a map to find Columbia. Travis' younger sister, Lauren, is a sophomore at Mizzou.

Mark Dambach said that he's seen only one other car in Cape Girardeau that has a KU bumper sticker.

"We're very rare," he said.

The Dambachs, however, aren't as divided as you might think.

"My parents were never big Mizzou fans," Travis said. "[Lauren] is not really that big a sports fan. It hasn't really created any confrontation."

Travis' friends who go to Mizzou will be cheering for their Tigers, but they'll also be there to support Travis. One of Travis' best friends, fellow Jackson High classmate Brian Seabaugh, not only goes to Mizzou, but he's an Antler, part of that crazed group of student fans who make their presence felt at basketball games.

The night before the KU-MU game during his redshirt year, Travis went to an Antler party. And he had the nerve to wear a KU shirt, too.

Dambach's KU career began slowly. He spent time on the defensive line late in his freshman year until he was switched back to the offensive line, where he made nine starts over his sophomore and junior years.

This year, Dambach has started every game at right guard.

"He's really enjoyed this year," said Lisa Dambach, who works as a nurse at Southeast Missouri Hospital. "It's been nice to be out there and contribute to the team.

"Even his first year that he redshirted, he really wanted to get out there and play. It's hard for him to stand by and watch. He knew he needed that year to develop and get stronger."

Dambach, who blocked for Missouri signee Mario Whitney at Jackson, did pay a visit to Mizzou during the recruiting process. But that was the extent of the Tigers' interest. Dambach eventually picked Kansas over Southern Illinois.

"It was where I was most comfortable," Dambach said.

Dambach has anchored the offensive line this year with center David Ochoa and left guard Bob Whitaker, two other fifth-year seniors who came to Kansas with Dambach.

Another player who arrived in Lawrence with Dambach became Dambach's roommate for the last five years -- running back Jon Cornish.

Against Kansas State, Cornish rushed for a career-high 201 yards and scored two touchdowns, helping him earn Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Cornish is the runaway Big 12 rushing leader this season with 1,331 yards (121 yards a game). He needs 111 yards Saturday to tie the school's single-season rushing record.

"We're pretty happy that we're playing well enough to give Jon the stats that he is getting," Dambach said.

With a 6-5 record, Kansas is now bowl eligible, but they haven't secured a bowl game just yet. A win over Missouri (7-4) would do just that.

Mark and Lisa Dambach went to KU's last two bowl games, the 2003 Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Fla., and last year's Fort Worth Bowl in Texas. And they plan to go wherever the Jayhawks land next month.

Dambach, a history major, will graduate in December before taking some more classes at KU in the spring. He wouldn't mind landing a job at a presidential library, whether it's the Harry S. Truman Presidential Museum and Library in Independence or the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum in Abilene, Kan.

"He's talked about doing something with cars," Lisa Dambach said. "Travis is a big Carl Edwards fan, because he's from Columbia."

Dambach has a long-distance relationship with his high school sweetheart, Katie Clark of Gordonville. Clark will graduate from Missouri-Rolla in December.

Are wedding bells in the distance? "I don't know," Lisa said. "That would be a good question for them."

Regardless of what the future holds, the football career of Travis Dambach is coming to an end. It's been a fun time for him and his family.

"It seems like a really long time, but then all of a sudden it seems real short," Dambach said. "I've had a great time here. There's been a core group of guys that came in with me and have stayed. It's been a lot of fun. I want to try to end it right."

Lisa said: "I keep a scrapbook for him, when he started playing football. I look back through there and look at the pictures of how he's grown. We've been following football now for the last nine years, and it's just going to seem really strange not to be going to football games and watching him play."

The Dambachs said they hope to go back to Lawrence and watch some of Travis's friends play at KU in the coming years. After all, Mark Dambach is now a Lawrence veteran.

"Five years ago, we didn't know where it was," he said. "Five years later, we're big fans."