SAN ANTONIO — Win or lose, it continues here tonight at the Alamo Bowl — the drive to the 2006 national championship.

Nebraska’s opponent, Michigan, is loaded up for a return to the Rose Bowl. And the Huskers? Let’s see, next year’s BCS title game, which follows the four biggies, is Jan. 8 in Tempe, Ariz., home to some of the finest moments in program history.

Anybody for another trip to the desert?

OK, so Big Red has that Mission Impossible, Sept. 16 visit to L.A., to face what could be the three-peat USC Trojans. There’s also an Oct. 21 home game against Texas, which could end USC’s dominant run a week from tonight and, as long as Vince Young returns for his senior season, likely will be the favorite to win it all in 2006.

On top of that, a loss to the Wolverines tonight would leave Nebraska 7-5 this season and nowhere to be found on the next national title contender meter.

That could be a big mistake (would you believe me if I said the last egg nog I drank was Saturday night?).

Come on, NU defensive line coach John Blake, help me out here. Surely, you can see something to the argument?

You weren’t that far removed at Oklahoma when the Sooners, using a lot of the players you recruited, went from 7-5 in 1999, which included a loss to Mississippi in the Independence Bowl, to capturing the 2000 national crown.

You remember how junior college transfer quarterback Josh Heupel went from being a virtual unknown in ’99 to the Heisman Trophy runner-up in 2000. This year, you watched juco transfer Zac Taylor, who with the exception of Young, was better than any other field general in the Big 12 Conference the last two weeks of the season.

So could Nebraska really be the Oklahoma of the North in 2006?

“I just see a lot of young talent here,” Blake said. “We need to recruit a couple more young talented groups to go along with them, but you can see the parallel.”

That comment will, I’m sure, cause much scoffing. Blake, after all, managed to compile records of 3-8, 4-7 and 5-6 in his three seasons as Oklahoma’s head coach from 1996-98.

One should be careful, though, to discredit what a person who is universally considered among the best judges of football talent sees going on in Bill Callahan’s program.

Whether you believe Blake lacked the organizational skills to become a hugely successful man in charge, the ’98 Sooners, who lost a one-point game to Cal and a two-pointer to Colorado, were moving in the right direction.

Bob Stoops then took over, and even though he found there was more to carve from Oklahoma’s carcass, the ’99 Sooners finished tied for second in the Big 12 South with Texas Tech and Texas A&M. And they had no first-team all-league selections.

One year later, Heupel and linebacker Rocky Calmus — second-teamers in ’99 — along with defensive linemen Ryan Fisher (third team) and new talents in the secondary, Roy Williams and J.T. Thatcher, all were on the first team.

Running back Quentin Griffin, wide receiver Antwone Savage and linebacker Torrance Marshall also became key figures during a 13-0 season that included a four-point win against A&M, a five-pointer against Oklahoma State and a three-pointer against Kansas State in the league championship before a dominating 13-2 triumph over Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

“I don’t think nobody was surprised,” Blake said.

Forward to 2005 Nebraska. Could the Huskers be looking at a similar setup?

They’re 7-4 with a fluke play costing them another win against Texas Tech, and it wouldn’t have taken much to reverse a seven-point loss to Oklahoma.

Though NU had no first-team All-Big 12 picks, it returns six honorees (DE Adam Carriker, CB Cortney Grixby, C Kurt Mann, LB Corey McKeon, DE Jay Moore and WR Terrence Nunn). Its two-deep chart includes just four seniors on offense (two starters) and five on defense (all start, but one because of injury).

Additionally, the ’06 Huskers figure to have Matt Herian, who when healthy is as good a receiving tight end as there is in college, back in the mix. Injured starting linebackers Steve Octavien, Stewart Bradley and Bo Ruud also return.

I-backs Marlon Lucky and/or Cody Glenn seem to have been tutored well by Cory Ross.

And you know Taylor will be eyeing a big senior campaign.

“I know what the state of this program here was in, so it’s hard to make a prediction, exactly,” Blake said. “Our goal is to get better each year.

“… The thing about 7-4, you can be close, but you can always have several injuries set you back. So many things can happen — you know what I mean? We lose Octavien and Stewart Bradley, it could’ve been a better record, you never know. It’s just a lot of reasons why you win and lose. A lot of times you’ve got to have a lot of luck, stay healthy, the rest of the team gets better and you don’t lose any players, for whatever reasons.”

Oklahoma, in 2000, “came with some people, a young quarterback that had a little more experience, got it cranked up and went and got another quarterback behind Heupel, like we did with Harrison Beck. You’ve got to put a lot around those guys, though — receivers, kind of like they had, running backs, O-line. You’ve got to keep recruiting.”

Indeed, what Nebraska gets out of its remaining scholarships could greatly impact how things fly in ’06. It’s what the Huskers already have, though, that should be providing them confidence for the future — and that feeling shouldn’t change dramatically by what happens tonight.

Unless…

“Any time you can win a game, it always makes you better,” Blake said, “especially the one going into next year, because it’s kind of catapulting.”

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.