Don’t look today for the Nebraska football team that last December had you thinking the transition to Bill Callahan was complete after the Huskers impressively slugged their way out of a tight spot against Michigan.

Forget that glorious Alamo Bowl memory, and the one NU provided in November when it marched into Colorado and brought down the Big 12 North Division champion Buffaloes with ease.

For all of their talents and experience — and they have loads of it — it would be unfair to expect such precision when the Huskers kick off the 2006 season against Louisiana Tech.

On the surface, it appears that Callahan and his staff have acquired the kind of ingredients to cook up something special this season. But in due time, people.

Rarely does a team become championship-caliber in early September. Rarely does an opening game provide many clues about where a team will be come November.

It would have been impossible to guess last season that after playing Maine, too stubborn to believe that an NCAA Division I-AA team had no business hanging with Nebraska on its turf, did just that in the opener.

“After we played Maine, I remember being sick all week — even though we won,” senior defensive end Jay Moore said. “There’s something about the first game that always feels just a touch different. I think there might be a little more nerves, just because you don’t know exactly what could happen.”

Last year, the unknown lingered beyond the opener, as NU’s offense continued to sputter against Atlantic Coast Conference doormat Wake Forest and then Pitt. And even when it finally got tuned during the fourth game against Iowa State, the Huskers needed double-overtime to prevail.

“Conclusions weren’t jumped to very high,” Moore said. “We got better. That’s the only thing you can do.”

So forgive Moore and his teammates if they aren’t like most of us right now who would rather fast forward the calendar two weeks.

Sorry, Southern California will have to wait. Louisiana Tech might not have the name or lofty ranking — but that plays into the Bulldogs’ favor.

“These types of games, a lot of people say, ‘You know what? This team may not be as good as you guys,’ ” said Callahan, more apt to bring up the fact that Tech finished off a 7-4 season in 2005 with a road upset of 23rd-ranked Fresno State than he is to point out the Bulldogs could have as many as 12 first-time starters today. “I don’t look at football like that.

“I worry more about these types of teams … because you don’t know what they’re going to do. They’re like mercenaries. They come in there and they’ve got one shot at you, and they’re going to take their shot.”

Even so, everyone would be shocked if Tech inflicts more than a bruise on Huskers. College football might have more parity than ever, but that equality is more pronounced with the upper-tier teams than it is throughout Division I.

So even though we shouldn’t expect the Huskers to look polished, it wouldn’t be asking too much of them to be in control of a club that Western Athletic Conference coaches tabbed to finish fifth in the nine-team league.

“It’s not easy playing these games, let’s face it,” said Tech coach Jack Bicknell, who knows magic is always lurking somewhere. After all, he was the one who in 1984 snapped the ball to Doug Flutie to start Boston College’s famous winning Hail Mary touchdown pass against Miami.

“I love to go recruiting and say we’re going to be playing Nebraska, (Texas) A&M, Clemson — that’s three of the top places in the nation to play,” said Bicknell, whose team faces that challenge this season. “The tough thing is when you start to look at your schedule and say, ‘OK, who the heck of these guys are we going to beat?’ your record doesn’t always turn out the way you want.”

In seven seasons under Bicknell, the Bulldogs are 3-21 against opponents from BCS conferences. If they don’t beat the odds today, if they get crushed, there won’t be devastation. They’ll regroup and, like Moore noted, try to get better.

Nebraska would be in the same boat, knowing its voyage has just begun and that there will be much bigger fish to pursue.

“I think for any team, you would like to have whatever you can get to get rolling,” said Callahan, noting his preference to have a schedule where the opponents get progressively tougher. “You want to try to create confidence early in the season and I think the home opener is always a huge game for your season.

“If we can play clean in this game and make progress, I think we’ll reach our objective.”