Just in case you missed it, Nebraska lost to Texas Tech last Saturday 70-10.

Or, to put it another way, Nebraska lost by 60 points to Texas Tech last Saturday. Or to put it an even other way, last Saturday, when they played, Texas Tech scored 70 points and Nebraska only scored 10.

But, wait, never mind. That still doesn't help. No matter how I read it I just still can't seem to believe it.

Texas Tech 70, Nebraska 10. Up is down, right is wrong and the Red Sox will beat the Yankees.

I realize that Texas Tech was favored coming into the game and that it's been a while since Nebraska has been really good. I also realize that the Huskers are breaking in a young quarterback and that after years of power football, their offense is changing under new coach Bill Callahan.

But still, this is Nebraska. For anyone currently of college age and watched college football back in the day, like the mid to late 90's, Nebraska was something else. They were that team, maybe like USC or Oklahoma today, that just didn't lose and, more often than not, did the other team pretty hard.

Even this season's versions of the Trojans or the Sooners can't really do it justice. From 1993 to 2001, Nebraska lost a grand total of 12 games, won three national championships (although there might be some folks around these parts, including yours truly, that might dispute that '94 championship) and played for two others.

But it wasn't just that the Huskers won, it's that they just kicked the sh** out of teams in the process and were so intimidating that, against but all of the best opponents, the game was over before it started.

I actually remember being excited before the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, that season's national championship game. I remember thinking that, oh boy, Florida was really going to give Nebraska a good game and maybe even win. But then reality kicked in and football's version of the Big Red Machine revved up and 65 points later the Cornhuskers had another title.

Oh well, I thought at the time, I guess some things just never change.

But then, nine years later, I turn on the television and see that Nebraska had just lost by 60 points to Texas Tech.

Is nothing sacred?

There are definite concrete reasons as to why things like this happen, why Nebraska lost that badly and why Alabama, Notre Dame and Penn State aren't what they used to be.

There are scholarship limitations and these days every halfway decent high school player is scouted and there is so much T.V. coverage now that it's a rare Division I game where there are no cameras present.

All of these things, over time, have leveled the recruiting playing field, which, in turn, has leveled the play on the real field.

To fans of Purdue and North Carolina State and West Virginia this has been a blessing. Those teams are now very good and in the case of Purdue, bordering on the elite.

But for myself, and I suspect for many others, there is an undeniable longing for, let's say, the way things were in college football 10 years ago. It's a lot more enjoyable to argue which team deserves the national title, undefeated Penn State or undefeated Nebraska, than to argue about which program has fallen further.

And that time may again come. Believe it or not, there was a time, not too long ago, when both the aforementioned Sooners and Trojans were pretty bad. They had losing seasons and suffered some pretty embarrassing losses. But they found a way back from the dead. Both teams now represent hope for the fallen elite, and show that it doesn't take much to re-awaken a sleeping giant.

The common thread between Oklahoma, USC and other teams with similar revivals or upshots in performance, Texas, Purdue, Virginia, Louisiana State, is that they brought in new coaches that revitalized the operation. It's no secret that some fans of the Nittany Lions feel that the same treatment is just what the doctor ordered for their team.

That may be true, but remember that Notre Dame, Nebraska and Alabama have done just that and their fortunes have yet to turn around totally. After all, I doubt there is anyone that wants Penn State to get back where they belong more than Joe Paterno. What he said following Saturday's tough loss to the Boilermakers just reaffirms it. "We're Penn State," an exasperated Paterno said. "We're supposed to beat these teams."

He might as well have been Bill Callahan sitting in Lubbock, Texas last Saturday night. They're Nebraska, they're supposed to beat these teams. At least they used to be. Who knows when they will be again.