COLLEGE FOOTBALL / GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI : No One’s Holding Back for Nebraska-Colorado

With No. 2 Nebraska traveling to No. 7 Colorado, will this be the week that the Cornhuskers--presuming they beat the Buffaloes--squeeze past idle No. 1 Florida State in the AP poll?

Five things you should know about one of the most important regular-season games of the year:

--The players are wheeling out the heavy verbal artillery.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t our season,” Colorado linebacker Matt Russell said. “This is kind of make it or break it. This is our season.”

Said Nebraska quarterback Tommie Frazier: “We’ve got to approach it, if we lose, our national championship hopes are over with.”

--John Hessler, the goofy, happy-go-lucky Colorado quarterback, doesn’t exactly remind anyone of Bobby Layne.

To put it more precisely, Hessler, described by one Denver columnist as an Alfred E. Neuman look-alike, used to get “panted” in the locker room by his teammates. Trust us, it isn’t a pretty sight.

“Since he’s a quarterback and we’re bigger, then we get the last laugh,” Russell said.

“I ain’t going to do nothing to 300-pounders,” Hessler said. “I’m an easy target.”

--As if Nebraska’s offense isn’t enough to deal with, the Cornhusker defense is now sweeping across the plain.

“We usually tend to get better as the season goes along,” Coach Tom Osborne said.

--Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel is due.

The last time Neuheisel faced Nebraska as a player, UCLA lost, 42-10. “Unfortunately, I started that contest,” said Neuheisel, the former Bruin quarterback. “I wish I could say I finished it.”

As an assistant coach at UCLA, he was 1-1 against Nebraska. As an assistant at Colorado, he was 0-1.

“Nebraska, without question, is the No. 1 program going right now,” he said.

--Contrary to Colorado’s earlier skepticism, Nebraska I-back Lawrence Phillips won’t play against the Buffaloes.

PLAID ALERT

In the immortal words of Dr. Frankenstein: “It’s alive!”

That would be 6-2 Notre Dame, of course. The Irish, a pass interception and two-point stand away from, oh, football oblivion, are ranked 12th and inching closer to the bowl alliance mix. They still need a top 10 finish in either the Associated Press or USA Today/CNN coaches poll to secure a guaranteed spot in the Fiesta (good luck), Orange or Sugar Bowl, but at least they’re within viewing distance.

“Yeah, I have tried to have fun and tried to enjoy myself,” said Coach Lou Holtz, who has endured a season-opening loss to Northwestern, followed shortly thereafter by neck surgery. “Obviously, the neck situation has made it a little bit difficult and with the initial loss . . . but, you know, we have never really lost the team and I hope the players have had fun.”

It was after the shocking loss to Northwestern that Holtz said the Irish could finish 10-1 or 1-10, but that he still liked the potential of his team. Turns out he’ll have to settle for 9-2 if everything goes as expected.

Fresh off a convincing victory against USC, Notre Dame faces Boston College (2-5) Saturday at home, then Navy (3-4) at home, then, after an open week, travels to Air Force (5-3). And if you’re wondering how the Holtz recovery is coming along, get a load of his comments about mighty Boston College. Vintage Lou:

--”I promise you there aren’t many people that want to play Boston College right now and particularly on the defensive side.”

(The Eagles lost to Army, 49-7, last week.)

--”When you look at them on film, you say, ‘How in the world have they lost five football games?’ ”

(Better yet, how in the world haven’t they lost six?)

In Holtz’s defense, the Eagles have beaten the Irish two consecutive years, which explains the extra compliments. And as added motivation, Holtz still remembers being spit on by fans at BC’s Alumni Stadium.

“After our performance, I couldn’t tell whether it was their fans or ours that were spitting on me,” Holtz said.

This week? Only applause after the Irish bump up a class to 7-2.

USC HYSTERIA

Trojans lose to Irish . . . Two-quarterback system questioned . . . John Robinson accused of not having USC prepared . . . Trojan fans jumping off Traveler at record pace . . . Season in jeopardy.

Reaction: This is USC we’re talking about, right?

Holtz might be Mr. Exaggeration, but he wasn’t kidding when he said, “Southern Cal is for real. They are not an overrated football team and I am glad we don’t have to play them again.”

So what if the tag-team quarterback thing didn’t work? What, you junk it with a 6-1 record? And we’re not buying this USC-was-flat argument. A desperate Notre Dame team simply played better. It isn’t any more complicated than that.

USC is still the team to beat in the Pacific 10 Conference. Keyshawn Johnson is still one of the five best players in the country. And Robinson deserves better than the knee-jerk second guessing.

After all, it could have been worse.

USC could still have Larry Smith.

BRAGGING RIGHTS

Each conference has three teams in the Associated Press top 10. Each conference has five teams in the AP top 25. So which is better, the Big Ten or the Big Eight?

“I’ll say it for everybody else,” said Kansas Coach Glen Mason, self-appointed Big Eight spokesman, “I don’t think there’s any doubt we have the toughest league.”

And then Mason burst into a chorus of “Rock Chalk Jayhawk.”

Actually, the Big Ten’s record of ranked teams against top 25 opponents is 9-4, the Big Eight’s is 6-4-1. Against top 10 opponents, the Big Ten is 1-0, the Big Eight is 3-2. Against non-top 25 opponents, those five Big Ten teams have lost twice. The Big Eight contingent hasn’t lost once.

OK, now take away the Big Eight’s two stinkers--Missouri and Oklahoma State--and we still think the top six teams in the Big Ten are collectively better. Sure it’s subjective, but put it this way: Who do you take in head-to-head play, Oklahoma State or Penn State? . . . Oklahoma or Michigan State? . . . Kansas State or Iowa? . . . Colorado or Michigan? . . . Kansas or Ohio State? . . . Nebraska or Northwestern? (Uh, you don’t have to answer that last one.)

At the least, it’s a 3-3 tie, which, until further notice, is why Mason needs to quit waving the pompons.

THE REST

Independence Bowl scout Pesky Hill was at the Texas Tech-Rice game last Saturday. When you’re trying to convince teams what a wonderful experience Shreveport, La., is in late December, you had better be pesky. . . . Word is that Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne was none too pleased about I-back Phillips’ return to the Cornhusker “family.” In what amounts to the first major clash of wills, Osborne, who was most definitely in favor of Phillips’ reinstatement, won the power struggle on this issue. Phillips, who struck his ex-girlfriend, had been suspended from the team since Sept. 10. According to Osborne, Phillips had done everything asked of him (public apology, suspension, remained in school, undergone psychological evaluation and agreed to treatment, pleaded no contest), which is why the junior running back might be back on the field by the Nov. 4 game against Iowa State. . . . An omission deserves an apology. Any list of coach of the half-season candidates should have included Oregon’s Mike Bellotti, who is 5-1 as a rookie coach. Any list of player of the half-season candidates should have included UCLA running back Karim Abdul-Jabbar.

First, the Northwestern good news: The Wildcats are ranked in the top 10 for the first time in 32 years, they’re still alive in the Rose Bowl race, their game at home against Penn State Nov. 4 has been picked up by ABC and you can’t get through to the school’s ticket office. The bad news: With fifth-year senior kicker Sam Valenzisi out because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee (he hurt it while jumping up and down during Northwestern’s victory against Wisconsin last Saturday), the Wildcats must depend on Brian Gowins, a redshirt freshman. Gowins kicked his first collegiate field goal after replacing Valenzisi in the fourth quarter. Valenzisi will undergo surgery within the next two weeks. . . . And now, four coaches in serious danger of selling Amway products next season: Georgia’s Ray Goff, Arizona State’s Bruce Snyder, Rutgers’ Doug Graber, Mississippi State’s Jackie Sherrill. . . . Shannon Faulkner’s Revenge Update: The Citadel is now 2-5. . . . After a 3-0 start, Oklahoma has lost one, won one, tied one and lost one. A semi-exasperated Coach Howard Schnellenberger said, “There isn’t any consistent way to handle that inconsistency.”

Until Saturday’s 17-16 victory over Virginia, Texas had never won a game on a last-play field goal. Phil Dawson’s 50-yard kick ended the 103-season, 600-game streak. . . . Beginning with the loss at Texas Saturday, Virginia plays only three games in 27 days. Because of a scheduling quirk, the 20th-ranked Cavaliers have already played nine times. . . . USC talked to Nebraska about adding the Cornhuskers to a future schedule, but the two programs couldn’t work out a deal on the game dates. Byrne said he plans to talk to UCLA Athletic Director Peter Dalis about a series but isn’t holding his breath. . . . Quotable Colorado linebacker Russell said the first time he saw the 34-year-old Neuheisel, “I thought he was a recruit coming on campus.” Which brings us to that whole “panting” question. Would he or wouldn’t he? “If [Neuheisel] was a real recruit and committed, yeah, I probably would have,” Russell said. . . . Asked what he plans to do with his collection of turtlenecks, forever stretched by his surgical neck brace, Holtz said, “I will probably send them to Hulk Hogan. I think that is about the only person they will fit. I hope when I come here next week, I will not have anything around my neck, except occasionally my wife.”

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Top 10

As selected by staff writer Gene Wojciechowski

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No. Team Record 1. Nebraska 7-0 2. Florida State 7-0 3. Ohio State 7-0 4. Florida 6-0 5. Tennessee 6-1 6. Kansas 7-0 7. Northwestern 6-1 8. Michigan 6-1 9. Colorado 6-1 10. Oregon 6-1

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Waiting list: 11) Notre Dame (6-2); 12) USC (6-1); 13) Kansas State (6-1); 14) Auburn (5-2); 15) Texas (5-1-1); 16) Washington (5-2); 17) Penn State (5-2); 18) Texas Tech (4-2); 19) Syracuse (6-1); 20) Texas A&M; (4-2); 21) Alabama (5-2); 22) Iowa (5-1); 23) UCLA (5-2); 24) Virginia (6-3); 25) Oklahoma (4-2-1).