No Question

Let's get this out of the way now Nebraska fans: all our goals are still intact.

Does it make you feel better?

Me neither.

We all knew coming in that USC was a better football team than Nebraska. That feeling was palpable in and around the stadium all day on Saturday. Everyone was doing their best to act like the Nebraska of old-- the Go Big Red chants, the Gameday turnout, the polite but poignant conversations with opposing fans--but just below that veneer there was the now familiar feeling for modern Nebraska fans: foreboding doom and it felt to me as bleak and dreary as the skies over Lincoln.

The clear distinction here is the difference between hope and belief. Everyone in red yesterday hoped Nebraska could win, maybe even had a sliver more hope than the third Saturday in September last year, but none of the people I spoke to, overheard, saw, sat with, drank with or otherwise encountered yesterday truly believed it, myself included, and that's not just an awful feeling it's the difference between Nebraska football in the 20th century versus Nebraska football in the 21st.

Early last week I wrote that, with a win against the mighty Trojans extremely unlikely, there needs to be at least one thing that inspires confidence in the program. Call it a reason to believe. Did you see it?

I didn't.

Now I know I'm not a Callahan hater but I am extremely skeptical which, in some very big circles, makes me a Callahan hater. I want nothing more than to be behind Nebraska's head coach 100% no matter who he is, but there are limits to how illogical I'm willing to be.

Did I feel like Callahan had earned an extension? No and I'm still waiting for a good argument as to why it happened but I bought it. It's good for recruiting they tell me. Have I seen the fire or pride in coach or team that has accompanied other major coaching changes at, say, Florida, South Carolina or--at least it looks that way now--Alabama? No, I haven't and even though those coaches, in admittedly different situations, had an immediate affect in terms of confidence and swagger, I accepted the party line that Callahan needed more time.

Does he? Perhaps. On paper Nebraska is a much more talented team than when he arrived but on the field they still seem like an aging puncher in a mixed-martial arts world. The talent gap between Nebraska and USC was the only thing wider than the holes the interchangeable Trojan horses ran through all night and that's not something that Blaine Gabbert or Jonas Gray can immediately fix. I always felt that way but also felt compelled to suppress it. Why?

If you listen to Coach Callahan speak for any span longer than three minutes I guarantee you that you'll hear him use the phrase "no question." It's the perfect summation of his close to the vest nature and seeming odds with reality. There's always some question with anything and I'm nowhere near as embarrassed with the way Nebraska played against USC as I am with how willing I've been to adopt that same illogic.

Not anymore. I won't be any less of a Nebraska fan because they lost to USC and the expected became reality yet again. As I wrote Friday before heading into Lincoln, I found my holy grail this weekend and I'll keep wearing it with as much pride as I did 10-minutes before kick off on Saturday. But it's no longer just a flag, it's now a thinking cap.

As I joined one of the monochrome tributaries that hours earlier had fed the Sea of Red but was quickly reversing stream at the end of the 3rd quarter, a fan yelled down at us "You're the reason we haven't won a national title since 1997!"

I wish it were that simple. I'm more than willing to change. In fact, that's what I'm doing right now and while I'm certain it won't have any affect on Nebraska football it will give me some much needed peace of mind.

Is there a chance this is all posturing in the pallor of the latest defeat and I'll be left relapsing into the usual sort of fanaticism by the time Ball State arrives next week? No question...but not if I can help it.

I'll hope like hell but I'm no longer forcing myself to believe.

Photos: Huskers.com