Almost every week since the season's beginning, we've watched as Saturdays put a little more anguish and a little less optimism in the hearts of Nebraska fans.
If there's any good news, it's that NU has almost hit rock bottom.
Even before the 36-14 loss - the third home loss of the season - Nebraska fans were taking the walking bridge to Memorial Stadium with Aggie fans, sharing their favorite slights of their own coaches.
"Want to trade coaches?" one Nebraska fan asked.
"No, we've got a higher standard than that," the Texas A&M fan replied.
It's doubtful anything changed after the game.
Crown Dennis Franchione the winner of the "Buyout Bowl." Looking at that game, it doesn't seem as though the loss could have decided either coach's fate on its own. But checking out the schedules, one can certainly see the importance this game carried.
In fact, it may have been more important for the Aggies. Their final four games come against the four Big 12 teams ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 - Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Texas. And the win at Nebraska - their first on the road this year - came one week after a crushing 35-7 loss at Texas Tech.
Nebraska's 4-4 record stands short of A&M's 6-2 mark, but the Huskers' future seems a bit more manageable. Their last two games of the season are against Kansas State and at Colorado. But their next two are as deadly as they come - at No. 17 Texas this weekend, at No. 12 Kansas the next.
Tack on a three-game losing streak, a 1-3 Big 12 Conference record and almost no prospect of reaching nine wins, and it couldn't be clearer.
Nebraska needed that win last weekend.
On their way out of the stadium Saturday, fans joked about the positives to be taken away from the 22-point home loss.
"At least we were in it at halftime," one said. It was a good point: Nebraska hadn't left the second quarter with a chance to win since September.
The current three-game losing streak is the third of Bill Callahan's coaching stint at Nebraska and the first since the Huskers dropped three games in the middle of the 2005 campaign.
Last season, Nebraska took advantage of a weak North Division and finished with a conference record of 6-2. At 1-3 this season, the scene around the division is much different than a year before. Kansas is undefeated. Missouri is a dangerous one-loss team with multiple weapons. Colorado and Kansas State appear to be rebuilding their football programs steadily.
Where does that leave Nebraska? Right now, in an obviously bad spot. The Huskers face the likelihood of going the entire month of October without a win.
The spin you take when looking at the remaining schedule shows your confidence in the team's performance in future games. When things are going well for a football team, the average fan or analyst will point to a few games that seem to be most likely for an upset.
In a bad year, they look for the games that should be easiest to win.
Nebraska needs two more wins to make it to a bowl game. And right now, their most winnable games are against Kansas State and Colorado.
See how I spun that?
Jonathan Crowl is a senior English major. Reach him at JONATHANCROWL@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM.
