At a press conference two days before Stanford’s home game against Arizona State in early January, head coach Trent Johnson talked about the challenge of getting Rob Little to play out of his comfort zone.

Simulating the post-game atmosphere of the senior center’s first collegiate game might do the trick.

“We played New Mexico at the Pit,” Little said, reflecting back on the jam-packed, high-altitude site of his welcome-to-Division I-college-basketball moment in 2001. “When we finally won, the whole place was booing the refs and us, and they were throwing everything they possibly could — coins, bottles, cans, seat covers. I was like, ‘Is this really how it is every time you win?’”

As Little would soon learn, it wasn’t. That’s a good thing considering the Cardinal have won 75 percent of their games in Little’s three-and-a-half years on the Farm. Stanford finished second in the Pac-10 during Little’s first two years, before winning the Pac-10 regular season and tournament titles last season en route to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

All of that made the first half of this season especially tough on Little, who likened Stanford’s rocky start to the one he went through as a senior at Paul VI High School in Fairfax, Va. That team never recovered from a couple of early-season injuries, and Little didn’t want the same thing to happen to him at Stanford four years later.

While coaches and teammates are quick to talk about the success that Little, a political science and philosophy double major, will continue to have in life after basketball — Johnson called Little one of the brightest people he knows — he is more concerned right now about not going down in history as a senior leader on the team that ended Stanford’s 10-year tournament run.

“As a senior, I want to walk away from this program happy and satisfied, and that is contingent upon us winning this year and making sure that those winning ways will continue in the future,” Little said. “I feel like the best thing I can do for the underclassmen is show them what it takes to win at Stanford and also how to do so graciously. We’ve been really good here for a long time and I think that what also makes winning special is humility and respect for your opponents.”

Little speaks volumes about the respect he has for the big men he will face this weekend — Arizona State’s Ike Diogu and Arizona’s Channing Frye — and says he learned a lot of what he knows about winning from a cast of talented teammates who passed through the program before him, including first-round NBA draft pick Curtis Borchardt.

“Curtis was a very savvy player and he told me that that was the first thing that I needed to pick up on,” Little said. “Justin [Davis] was just a relentless fighter and a very smart player. He talked with me a lot about the mental aspect about being a big man here and also being a good team player.”

Always a team player, Little has taken a more active role during Stanford’s recent resurgence. He and junior guard Dan Grunfeld are the only Stanford players who have scored in double figures in each of the Cardinal’s six wins during the streak. Little averaged 12.7 points — on 62.8 percent shooting — and 7.8 rebounds per game during that span, raising his season averages to 10.2 and 5.6, respectively.

The key to the turnaround?

“In my mind there was just going to be a point when we were going to win,” Little said. “The key was staying positive in the midst of all the media criticism. It’s easy to stay positive when you are winning. I think we showed a lot of character when were down 0-3 in the league and looked the Wildcats in the face and said, ‘You’re not leaving here without a fight!’”

Little responded with one of his best fights of the year, scoring 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and grabbing 12 rebounds in the Cardinal’s 87-76 upset of Arizona. Stanford hasn’t lost since.

“I think everybody wants to leave a program or business that they enter into better than how they received it,” Little said. “As a freshman I came into a program that had won three straight Pac-10 titles and was ranked No 1. Last year we had that similar kind of success and that was very fulfilling for me.”

Little also gets fulfillment spreading the knowledge about basketball and life he has accrued over his time here to freshmen posts Peter Prowitt and Taj Finger. Little predicts both players will enjoy successful collegiate careers, citing their strong work ethic and listening skills.

“I’ve always admired Rob, so I’m glad I got the chance to come out here and play with him,” said Prowitt, a fellow Virginian who saw Little play in high school. “Rob definitely does a good job of showing me the ropes a little bit. He’s really good with teaching me to control my emotions and staying level-headed. I’ve been known to have kind of a temper, but Rob has definitely helped me with that aspect.

Earlier this week, Johnson touched on Little’s comfort zone once again, suggesting that a little anger on the court might actually be beneficial to his even-keeled center.

“We’re trying to get Rob to play a bit tougher this year,” Johnson said. “He always tries to make everybody happy, but we want him to be a little more nasty on the boards.”

Little’s retort?

“I am a control freak right down to my emotions, and I really try to not let the actions of others change my outlook on life or on the court,” Little said. “Sometimes I think I play better when I am angry at something, but I also think being under control is important. I think I play better cool headed with a little bit of an edge. When I am playing well, I feel very focused and very calm; I feel as though things just come to me.”

Johnson’s good intentions aren’t going unnoticed, however.

“I do feel that Coach knows what button to push with me,” Little said. “He is a great people reader and that is a sign of a really good coach.”