Measuring Stick of a Makeover

The “N” remains its unmistakable brand, but this is a brand-new Nebraska, last seen here running out of options against Miami in the 2002 Rose Bowl.

Odd things have occurred in Husker Nation since a 37-14 defeat on that Thursday night, two sacrilegious days after the Rose Parade:

* Tom Osborne, the masthead of Nebraska football, winner of three national titles and election to Congress in 2000 with 82% of the vote, was defeated last May in a primary runoff for governor. Someone said the headline should have been “God Loses.”

* Frank Solich, the hand-picked successor when Osborne retired in 1997, was fired in 2003, moved on to Ohio University, where he was arrested last November on DUI charges that he fought (and lost) on the defense he must have been slipped a date-rape drug.

* Eric Crouch, the Cornhuskers’ 2001 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, never made it in the NFL and was last reported sharing a spot on the Toronto Argonauts’ disabled list with Ricky Williams, the 1998 Heisman winner.

* Oh, and they blew up the offense.

That should bring you up to speed, which Nebraska needs a lot more of to compete against USC at the Coliseum in one of seven Saturday showcase games.

Nebraska’s problem is that it is trying to become what USC already is, a top-flight, pro-style operation.

“The program was there under Coach Osborne,” Coach Bill Callahan said this week. “We’re trying to get back there.”

So long tethered philosophically to Mother Earth, Nebraska football ditched its vaunted option attack in favor of the West Coast.

Nebraska took an ax to the family coaching tree of Bob Devaney-Osborne-Solich and hired Callahan, who previously worked Sundays.

It was like going from dial-up to wireless.

“I think the system we ran took a specific coach -- it was Coach Osborne-related,” said Damon Benning, a former Nebraska running back and most valuable player in the 1997 Orange Bowl. “It fit his personality. It was consistent, relatively safe and in your face. Not everyone can run that system.”

The Cornhuskers are recruiting dart throwers now, not only runners, and it has taken only two years to almost rewrite the record book.

The top four single-game passing performances in Nebraska history have been established in the last two seasons.

Nebraska, which played its first game in 1890, never had a quarterback throw for 300 yards in a game until Callahan arrived in 2004.

Last year, transfer Zac Taylor set the team’s single-season yardage mark with 2,653 yards. With a decent year, Taylor will eclipse Dave Humm’s career mark of 5,035.

But this is only Year Three of the Reconstruction, so expecting Nebraska to defeat USC is like asking “Bob’s Computer Chips and Deli” to compete with Microsoft.

Benning, now a high school coach in Omaha, loves that Nebraska has upgraded its software. He likes the diversity of Callahan’s offense.

But he also has seen USC.

“Even if Nebraska plays a perfect game I think USC will have to do things out of character for Nebraska to win,” Benning said. “There’s no shame in saying that.”

Benning didn’t say this, but anything less than a two-touchdown loss for Nebraska should be considered a sign the program is headed down the right pass route.

Nebraskans far and wide will be watching.

“We just expect to see credible play for four quarters,” Mick Brogan, a member of the alumni chapter of “Alaskan Nebraskans,” wrote in an e-mail dispatch from Anchorage. “USC [today] is where Nebraska was in the ‘70s and ‘90s, so a solid showing almost equates to a win.”

A better matchup would have been USC versus Nebraska circa 1995, the Tommie Frazier-led team that wiped out 12 schools, including Florida in the Fiesta Bowl, en route to the most dominating national-title run, well, perhaps ever.

Frazier can’t help them now. He’s in his second season as coach at NAIA Doane (Neb.) College.

Frazier is no longer an option.

And neither is the option.

What a Weekend

Seven snapshots of Saturday games pairing schools ranked in the AP top 25:

* No. 6 Louisiana State at No. 3 Auburn: It’s the first time since 1972 both teams enter the game ranked in the top 10 and it could determine how the SEC West is eventually won.

* No. 11 Michigan at No. 2 Notre Dame: A victory against the Irish would get the Wolverine pack off Coach Lloyd Carr, but don’t look for either to happen.

* No. 19 Nebraska at No. 4 USC: Nebraska has rotated multiple tailbacks in two lopsided victories, but to win it would need to rotate USC’s tailbacks.

* No. 7 Florida at No. 13 Tennessee: Would have leaned toward Tennessee had the Volunteers not beaten a retreat in a narrow home win over Air Force.

* No. 17 Miami at No. 12 Louisville: Louisville should have upset Miami two years ago but blew it. The Cardinals won’t this time.

* No. 15 Oklahoma at No. 18 Oregon: What’s left of the Pacific 10 Conference’s reputation hangs in this battle of Big O’s. The Ducks’ uniforms alone should scare a field goal out of the Sooners.

* No. 24 Texas Tech at No. 20 Texas Christian: Graham Harrell, who has seven touchdown passes in two games, is the latest in Coach Mike Leach’s assembly line.

Bonus features:

* Clemson at No. 9 Florida State: Clemson fell out of the rankings with its heartbreaking loss to Boston College last week; Florida State fans fell off their chairs when Troy led at the half.

* Iowa State at No. 16 Iowa: Iowa State knocked quarterback Drew Tate out of last year’s game and ruined Iowa’s season with an upset win in Ames. The kids of the corn refer to this as “payback” time.

Blitz Package

Herman Matthews’ Grid Ratings are no longer part of the Bowl Championship Series formula, and this could be why: See if you can identify the anomaly in his top six teams this week: Notre Dame, Louisiana State, USC, Ohio State, Georgia, New Hampshire ...

Slack attack. Has there ever been a school ranked No. 9 in the Associated Press poll and No. 118 in national rushing statistics? Only Hawaii keeps Florida State from being ranked dead last, and that’s misleading because Hawaii -- 22 net yards to Florida State’s 46 -- has played only one game. Hawaii has a decided advantage in average rushing yards per play, 1.22 to 0.87.

School you don’t want to be this week: Rice. Texas, fresh off its first loss in 22 games, gets suspended corner Tarrel Brown back for this week’s game in Austin. Texas fans may remember Rice’s first-year offensive coordinator, Major Applewhite, who might have led the Longhorns to the 2001 national title had, ah, let’s not rehash that history. After playing UCLA and Texas in consecutive weeks, Rice must be looking forward to next week’s breather ... at Florida State.

Texas may have lost a football game to Ohio State, but it picked up an extra $10,000 for renting out its basketball arena for a Buckeye pregame pep rally.

But they still get a cut of the BCS money ... Mississippi State hasn’t scored a point in two games; Temple hasn’t scored a touchdown and the combined score in Illinois’ last three road losses is 110-5.

It has been a rough go for Mississippi State Coach Sylvester Croom, the first African American football coach in Southeastern Conference history. He beat Tulane in his 2004 debut but is 5-18 since. Croom lashed out at disgruntled fans after Saturday’s shutout loss to Auburn, but happier memories are pulling into town. Mississippi State’s opponent this week is Tulane.

He always has been coordinated. Gene Chizik’s winning streak as a defensive coordinator ended at 29 games when Ohio State defeated Texas last Saturday. Chizik’s streak dated to his time at Auburn. His streak started after Georgia defeated Auburn in 2003.

Let me tell you about USC ... Former Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller, who transferred to Nebraska after losing the starting job to Rudy Carpenter, has been running the scout-team offense and offering tips on USC’s schemes. With Keller at quarterback, Arizona State led USC at the half last year, 21-3, before a second-half collapse. Keller finished with five interceptions.

“He knows what works and doesn’t work, and he took a lot away from his experience last year,” Nebraska quarterback Taylor said. “He told us not to force big plays.”

Keller will be eligible to play against USC next year when the Trojans visit Lincoln on Sept. 15.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com