COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — In the course of trying to repeat something he did a year ago, Scott Snedecor is looking to do something no one has ever done.

Reigning World Champion Snedecor enters the Nov. 13-14 Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping in Guthrie, Okla., with a $15,026 lead on the field, the odds-on favorite to claim the event's gold buckle for a third time in his career.

If Snedecor can match his performance level at last year's NFSR in Hobbs, N.M., and finish as high as third in the average, he will become the first steer roper ever to surpass $100,000 in single-season earnings.

Eighteen-time World Champion Guy Allen holds the record of $99,132 set in 1998, making it the oldest PRCA earnings record on the books.

Snedecor, of Uvalde, Texas, has a bit of personal history working in his favor at the Lazy E Arena. He holds the arena record in steer roping with a 9.3-second run in the 2007 Wrangler Timed Event Championships.

"I've always liked roping there," Snedecor said, "and I've done well there. I think it will be good. I'm looking forward to it, and going into it no. 1, I have a little bit of a cushion. I can just go in there and rope and have some fun.

"The (regular) season ended on a good note in Amarillo (Texas). I placed in every round and won the average. My roping feels good, and I feel sharp. Everything's going right as scheduled."

Snedecor starts the week with earnings of $64,666, just a bit below the $65,183 he had at the start of last year's NFSR. Kansan Rocky Patterson, who set the NFSR 10-head average record in 2001, is second in the standings with $49,640. He is followed by another five Texans — Cody Lee ($42,501), Vin Fisher Jr. (41,653), Trevor Brazile ($39,456), Shane Suggs ($34,732) and Landon McClaugherty ($30,864).

Brazile won steer roping world championships in 2006 and 2007, and had the highest earnings total in the 2008 NFSR, when he placed in seven rounds — winning two — and finished second in the average.