STILLWATER — While Oklahoma State recently has made a habit of traveling to the Phoenix area for football games, only one current Cowboy has played on the lush grass of Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.

And receiver De’Zhaun Stribling is excited to get back, when the first-year OSU receiver and his teammates take on Arizona State at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, televised by FS1.

“Great grass,” said Stribling, who, as a freshman at Washington State, had one catch for 23 yards when he played at the place then known as Sun Devil Stadium.

The Cowboys are happy to have Stribling playing on their turf this season. After two strong years at Washington State, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior — who led the Cougars in receiving last year — entered the transfer portal and quickly identified Stillwater as a potential destination.

He came in as the Cowboys were watching the departure of four of their top five receivers from a year ago, three who exited via the transfer portal. Stribling looked like just another piece added from the portal when the Pokes landed him in December, but he could turn out to be much more than that.

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As OSU heads back to the Phoenix area for the third time in the last 21 months, Stribling is already showing his potential as a primary outside receiver in the Cowboy offense.

In his first game, the Pokes’ sloppy 27-13 win over Central Arkansas last Saturday, Stribling was targeted five times and caught four throws for 73 yards. He and first-string quarterback Garret Rangel seemed to have a particularly strong connection.

“I feel like I played with some great effort,” Stribling said of his Cowboy debut in which he played 62 of 82 snaps. “There were some things I can clean up and I can do to help out our team better. But for the most part, it was a solid starting point. There’s always more and better to come.”

While the Cowboys still have a competition to work out at quarterback between three potential starters, Rangel, Alan Bowman and Gunnar Gundy, the receiver position looks to have the usual deep lineup OSU fans are accustomed to. And Stribling has the talent to be in the mix as a go-to set of hands all season.

He’s following in the footsteps of former Cowboy Tay Martin, a Washington State transfer who came to Stillwater looking to be productive and boost his profile. Martin succeeded, and has been hanging around in the NFL, either on a roster or a practice squad the last two years.

“Tay Martin’s a dog,” said Stribling, who arrived at Washington State after Martin had already left. “He’s a great receiver. I looked up to him when I was at Washington State. Didn’t have the chance to play with him, but everything he’s done there, and his impact, I look up to him.”

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A native of Kapolei, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu, Stribling was lightly recruited, simply because of the challenge and cost associated with recruiting the state by schools from the mainland.

So when Stribling went in the portal and began to draw attention from across the country, he got to fully experience the recruiting process.

“It was kind of a first-time thing, going on visits and stuff like that,” he said. “I felt immediately that this was a great fit.

“The team morale, the offense and the discipline and toughness everybody on this team has, it’s a real thing. Everybody’s really bought in and loves this team.”

While many of the 13 transfers OSU brought in over the winter are coming from lower-level programs, Stribling has Power Five experience, which helped the Cowboys better understand what he might be able to do for them.

“Stribling’s gonna make plays for us,” head coach Mike Gundy said. “He’s been consistent. He’s experienced, he’s older. He’s one of the guys we didn’t know a lot about, but we knew a little bit more about him, because he had played a lot at a high level.

“We had a pretty good feel for what he would do.”

Perhaps the consistency Gundy mentioned is the most notable trait Stribling has displayed since coming to Stillwater.

“It’s the little details in everything that he does,” senior receiver Brennan Presley said. “He practices like a pro. When he gets out there, he believes it. A lot of guys can practice like that, but when they get on the field, they don’t necessarily believe it. He believes he can make every single play. We believe he can make every single play.

“His mentality, the way he goes out there, he’s fearless. He’s never scared. Honestly, that’s the way he attacks every single day.”

OSU vs. Arizona State

KICKOFF: 9:30 p.m. Saturday at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Ariz. (FS1)

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football expects big things from De’Zhaun Stribling