BOULDER, Colo. -- In 1995, Rick Neuheisel took the red out. It got him and his University of Colorado football team nowhere (well, maybe close) in three of four games against Nebraska.

As one of his first mental, if not physical, acts as Neuheisel's successor, Gary Barnett restored the Cornhuskers to scarlet-letter status on CU's 1999 football schedule.

	An 0-4 start has Gary Barnett getting tough with the Buffaloes.

Where it gets Barnett's first Buffs team against the dreaded Big Red won't be determined until Friday at Folsom Field. But when Neuheisel left Boulder for Washington and Barnett replaced him, there was never any question the Huskers once again would be afforded red-letter treatment.

As a CU assistant, Barnett watched former coach Bill McCartney somewhat brazenly identify the Huskers as the Buffs' rival and heard the belly laughs echoing from across the state border. Yet after CU upset Nebraska in 1986, then won consecutive games in 1989-90 and tied the Huskers in 1991, Barnett knew McCartney's approach was a fit for Colorado.

Neuheisel saw it differently, not wanting to build up one game more than another. "And to his credit," Barnett conceded earlier this week, "the last three games they lost by a total of 10 points. But they lost.

"So I'm not sure if me hyping it up and making it a red-letter game is going to make us play any better. I do think it's sort of the environment the fans want and the state wants. Everybody likes to have a big game, and if you don't have Nebraska, who is our big game?"

Barnett answered his own question by mentioning Colorado State -- which trounced CU in the 1999 season opener -- and said the 2000 CU-CSU rematch will be monstrous. But, like McCartney, Barnett believes a school's biggest game should close the season -- and if it's played on Thanksgiving weekend, it makes it all the better.

	“	Putting an emphasis on Nebraska is the way you have to go after it -- especially in our division. The rivalry wouldn't go away; it just wouldn't fall off. Every time I've been on the field against them, it's been one of the hardest fought games I've been a part of.  ”
		—  Colorado's Ryan Johanningmeier

Spending the past seven seasons at Northwestern, Barnett's Thanksgiving weekends usually were framed by televised college football games. He watched Texas vs. Texas A&M and, of course, Colorado vs. Nebraska.

Said Barnett: "I looked at it over the last seven years and wished I could coach in it. So here we are."

What Barnett never saw from his den in Evanston, Ill., was CU beat Nebraska. The Cornhuskers have a seven-game winning streak in the series and are favored by two touchdowns Friday. After watching the Buffs catch the Huskers in 1989-91, Barnett wouldn't have believed CU would not win again in this decade.

"I haven't thought about it like that," he said. "For me, it's the first time I get to play Nebraska since I've been back. That's the way I look at it."

For most of CU's players, whatever color ink is used, N-e-b-r-a-s-k-a still spells a hurdle the Buffs must clear.

"With (Barnett's) return to Colorado and his 'Return To Dominance' theme, to get CU back to where it was when he left, you've got to go out and beat the best teams in the league," senior tri-captain Ryan Johanningmeier said.

"Putting an emphasis on Nebraska is the way you have to go after it -- especially in our division. The rivalry wouldn't go away; it just wouldn't fall off (under Neuheiusel). Every time I've been on the field against them, it's been one of the hardest fought games I've been a part of."

Barnett expects Friday's to be the same and believes the Buffs "are hitting our stride. We feel real good about where we are ... We've got a great attitude about us, a great spirit. We're a very determined football team at this time.

"The atmosphere I want our players to practice in and the understanding of what this game is about -- I think it's there. It's a big game for a lot of reasons. But it's also a big game because it's Nebraska."

B.G. Brooks writes for the Denver Rocky Mountain News