MANHATTAN, Kan. | With a loss to Oklahoma still fresh in his mind, K-State&rsquo;s Daniel Thomas didn&rsquo;t feel like standing.</p><p>Thomas, a junior running back, had just gutted out 88 yards in 16 carries against one of the nation&rsquo;s best defensive fronts and, as he does in most games, also took direct snaps out of the wildcat formation and threw for 41 yards.</p><p>That kind of workload can wear on anyone, and Thomas is no different. Add a nagging shoulder injury into the equation and it was no surprise to see Thomas looking for a place to sit outside the visiting locker room in Norman. .</p><p>&ldquo;I just had to do what I could,&rdquo; said Thomas. &ldquo;My shoulder, I was thinking a lot about my shoulder through the game. I have a lot of pain &hellip; I feel pretty sore right now.&rdquo;</p><p>Comments like that are nothing new from Thomas. The junior-college transfer has been in pain all season and has often been seen favoring his left shoulder after hard tackles. </p><p>But Thomas has never allowed that to get in the way of his game.</p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great player and a really tough guy,&rdquo; senior offensive lineman Nick Stringer said. &ldquo;A lot of guys on this football team are leaning on him right now.&rdquo;</p><p>Indeed, through nine games, Thomas has rushed for 902 yards and a Big 12-best 10 touchdowns. He has emerged as one of the conference&rsquo;s best overall running backs and is the focal point of K-State&rsquo;s offense.</p><p>Coach Bill Snyder is never afraid to go to him, and because of that, Thomas leads the Big 12 with 181 rushing attempts.</p><p>During all that playing time, Thomas &mdash; who was not at Tuesday&rsquo;s K-State news conference &mdash; has been hit and tackled hard. But even though he&rsquo;s not afraid to talk about the injuries that come out of those hits, he&rsquo;s always begging for the next handoff.</p><p>Following a loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, Thomas complained that he ran the ball just 27 times. He&rsquo;s always looking for more touches. </p><p>&ldquo;He&rsquo;s taken some shots this year,&rdquo; offensive lineman Wade Weibert said. &ldquo;There have been a couple times when I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;Oh man, I hope he gets up.&rsquo; But he keeps getting up. He&rsquo;s a tough runner and he&rsquo;s a fun guy to have back there.&rdquo;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Tickets remain for KU</span></strong></p><p>Kansas State officials said Tuesday that about 3,000 tickets remain available for Saturday&rsquo;s 11:30 a.m. kickoff against Kansas.