As a kid in Grand Island, NU wide receiver Todd Peterson rarely saw any of his classmates wear a college football shirt that supported a team other than the Big Red.
But after two losing seasons in five years, things have changed.
"I'll go talk to elementary school kids and almost every class I go to there will be a kid with an Oklahoma shirt or a Texas shirt or somebody will say 'Oh, I'm a Texas fan,'" Peterson said.
"It's just human nature - people want to root for that winner."
Nebraska's storied football program clearly is not winning.
The program has also fallen out of favor nationally. The Associated Press ranked Nebraska No. 46 in its preseason poll.
Players are also aware of the danger of losing Nebraska's national relevance for good. For them, they want to avoid a slide into obscurity.
"Sometimes you skid, you skid and you skid - and you're over the edge of the cliff," said Ron Brown, tight ends coach. "Some of these programs never do come back."
Nevertheless, the program has made strenuous efforts to revive intangible aspects of the program that many say helped shape it into a national power.
Tom Osborne is back. The walk-on program is back. Old players are now mentors.
All that's left, it seems, is restoring Nebraska's tradition.
The 2008 season is an important one in the history of Nebraska football, Brown said. The program needs to show fans, recruits and the country that the team has returned to the level of effort the country once envied.
"This is not, in itself, a place that people just flock to come to," Brown said. "Obviously what separated us was the fact that we won a lot, and that there was a demonstrated character here. It was a way of doing things.
"There was just a culture here that attracted kids."
Head Coach Bo Pelini is widely characterized as a symbol of transition for the program, a fresh face that arrived to the university with the goal of reinvigorating the program and recognizing its roots.
Promoting effort and intensity are items at the top of his agenda.
"That's the kind of thing that eventually leads to wins," Pelini said. "You're not going to win without that, so that's part of our philosophy."
Yet the underlying concern is righting the ship.
"I look back on my time here and I don't want to say that my five years were the black eye on Nebraska football," Peterson said.
"I think we all look at it as we have this one year left to turn things around and get back on the right track."
Zach Potter agreed that it's important to re-establish the importance of giving maximum effort, but the senior defensive end said an emphasis on effort should result in wins this season, not just success in the future.
"Obviously, some people are going to say, 'Hey, this is (Pelini's) first year, give him some time,' but I don't think Coach Pelini, with his background, is going to need the time," Potter said.
"We have plenty of talent on this team where we should be able to come out and have a great year. We shouldn't be looking to have a rebuilding year or anything like that."
Pelini said he just wants to focus on the here and now.
"Expectations are what they are, and I'm just a guy that coaches football, and I'm here to do the best job I possibly can," Pelini said.
"As long as I can look in the mirror at night, that's what I concern myself with. I'm going to do the best job I possibly can for this program and this university."
krisknowlton@dailynebraskan.com
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