University Of Nebraska

LINCOLN, Neb. -- "Destiny is not a matter of chance," the quotation reads above the entrance to the Osborne Athletic Complex. "It is a matter of choice." The phrase is credited to Nebraska politician and statesman William Jennings Bryan, but the words might as well be inscribed on a chain around the neck of Nebraska senior quarterback Sam Keller. Two years ago, while starring at Arizona State, Keller disappeared into halftime at Sun Devil Stadium with a 21-3 lead over No. 1 USC.

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The subject of Saturday's game between USC and Nebraska -- and the hyperbole sparked by two nationally ranked teams drenched in football tradition -- does not get very far with Marlon Lucky. "It's just like another game," he said. "It's nothing special." Nor does the opportunity to play on national television, a chance to showcase his talents, appear to impress the Cornhuskers running back. "It would probably put my name out there," he said. "But whatever comes, comes."

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Down by the end of the bar, Kellie Conway and Kara Scholz can't take it anymore. After listening to the guys talk football for half an hour, they grab their drinks and rush over to a visitor, eager to divulge the real reason that tonight's game between USC and Nebraska is the biggest thing to hit this prairie city in years. "Celebrities," Conway says. Scholz adds: "They're coming here." Will Ferrell and Keanu Reeves will watch the top-ranked Trojans play 14th-ranked Nebraska.

By now, Waskar Ari should be preparing his lectures for the fall semester at the University of Nebraska, a year's professorship already under his belt. The Bolivian historian and political scientist, an Aymara Indian with a doctorate in history from Georgetown University, was offered a tenure-track post in Lincoln teaching Latin American history more than a year ago. But Ari has yet to obtain a U.S. visa.

In the hours before kickoff, as Notre Dame Stadium rustled to life, something felt terribly wrong. No other field in college football can lay claim to a richer sense of tradition, adorned with touches of blue and gold, yet the gathering crowd looked out of place. A murmur began running through the stands: Where is all this red coming from? Nebraska fans. The Fighting Irish were playing the top-ranked Cornhuskers that afternoon in the fall of 2000.

Start with a cliche. A young football player -- straight out of Inglewood by way of Compton Community College -- arrives in Nebraska and steps into a wintry landscape. "My first time in snow," he says. An even bigger surprise awaits him soon after, shopping at Wal-Mart. "People walking up to me, hugging me," he says. "I didn't know those people. I hadn't done anything on the field, but they already knew everything about me, my high school and junior college stats."

Former collegiate football star Lawrence Phillips should be sent to prison for driving his car into a group of boys and young men, probation officials advised a judge Thursday. The onetime NFL running back "poses a danger to others" and has repeatedly behaved violently with no signs of reform, according to the report filed with Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge George G. Lomeli.

Those who figured that the Big 12 Conference title game rated on the national significance scale somewhere below USC-UCLA, Army-Navy and the canasta game at your local rotary club were proven correct. But only because of that instant-replay official who may supplant Texas Coach Mack Brown as the most hated man in Oklahoma. It was the official, remember, who cost the Sooners a victory over Oregon in September when he botched the ruling on an onside kick.

Oklahoma State Coach Les Miles will replace Nick Saban at Louisiana State, a source close to the negotiations said Sunday. The school called a news conference for today, and the source, speaking to Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said Miles would be introduced then. LSU Athletic Director Skip Bertman did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Newt Gingrich switches to Green Party, John Deere to make greeting cards instead of tractors, Madonna enters convent, Nebraska football ditches option attack in favor of West Coast offense ... All of these ridiculous notions are false except the last and still, to believe that one, you had to jump on a plane and see it with your own two retinas.