Yes, the league title albatross grows. But it’s my opinion that the expectation here, the desire, is to at least chase the championship if not attain it. And do so with effort and performance that make the people proud. Nebraska football has always represented that, embodied the work ethic of the people.

I could be wrong but I don’t think so. I’m sure you’ll tell me.

And maybe it’s this dad watching his kids grow up too fast, but it really is about the journey. I used to scoff at that Osborne line. But man, it’s true.

“Nothing lasts forever,” says the legend behind his desk. “I know people think if I had stayed three or four more years, we would have kept it going. But that’s probably not true.

“The older you get, the more you realize that no matter how good something is, eventually it will regress toward the mean or the average of the group. Enjoy what you have.

“Who knows? Tommie Frazier could have gone to Colorado or Notre Dame, the Peter brothers could have not come here, Grant Wistrom could have gone to Michigan. We had some really good players back then. But that wasn’t going to last forever.”