They hold the future of the Bowl Championship Series in their hands.

OK, maybe that's over-hyping the effect 12 Colorado seniors could have Friday against No. 2 Nebraska. Forget the future. They would settle first for closure on their past. Had Rick Neuheisel not decided to redshirt his 1997 freshman class at Colorado, the dozen Buffs wouldn't be in this position to throw sugar in the gas tank of the BCS.

Through their five seasons, bonds have been forged, body parts have been fractured and Neuheisel has left town. Most impressively, 12 Buffs made it through those uncertain times to have a chance to reach the pinnacle of their careers.

Namely beating Nebraska. Finally. Colorado hasn't done it since 1990. In the past five years, Nebraska has won by a total of 15 points. The past four, the Huskers have won by a total of 10. The redshirt seniors played in three of those games, feeling victory ooze through their fingers each year.

"It seems like each year, it gets harder and harder to take the defeat, because each year, the loss is worse than the year before," said one of those seniors, running back Cortlen Johnson.

You want to talk blood, sweat and jeers? It's hard for Nebraska to admit Colorado will ever be a rival. The Buffalo Nation considers Nebraska the dark side, a carryover from the Bill McCartney era.

Every true son of Colorado wants to beat Nebraska. Only twice since 1987 have the Buffs done it.

As redshirts in 1997, the dozen watched from the sideline as their teammates rallied to within three points with two late touchdowns. Nebraska hung on to win 27-24, preserving a national championship season.

In their first Nebraska action in 1998, they helped hold the Huskers without a touchdown. Nebraska still won 16-14.

They're still talking in Boulder about the 1999 game there. That's when the Big 12 North trophy was shipped in early for presentation to the Huskers. Colorado then rallied for 24 points in the fourth quarter to tie 27-27. Kicker Jeremy Aldrich's game-winning field-goal attempt from 34 yards went inches wide as time expired in regulation. Nebraska won in overtime.

Last year, Colorado went ahead 32-31 with 47 seconds left. There was just enough time for Eric Crouch to guide his team to the game-winning field goal as time expired.

"It's definitely been hard," Johnson said.

Finally beat Nebraska, and Colorado clinches a spot in the Big 12 title game. Defeat Nebraska, and the BCS is a shambles, with the Huskers likely falling out of Rose Bowl contention. Knock off Nebraska, and all the crap will have been worth it for the seniors.

"We've been through a lot, we've seen a lot," Johnson said. "That's made us that much closer to each other as a class. We were the only ones here that weekend that first year when the team was on the road."

Seven of the 12 have survived to start their last home game. Redshirt seniors Daniel Graham, a tight end, and offensive lineman Andre Gurode might appear on some All-America lists at the end of the season. Returner Roman Hollowell is one of the best in the country. Johnson, the team's third-leading rusher, became the first Colorado player to get 100 yards rushing and receiving in the Iowa State game.

Success has come at a price. Johnson estimates that up to 90 percent of his fellow seniors have had surgery. Offensive tackle Victor Rogers once had seven surgeries in a 15-month span. Johnson has suffered a sprained knee and ankle and shoulder surgeries. He came out of the St. Louis suburbs five years ago as one of the nation's top running back prospects. Nebraska wanted him as a receiver, but he chose Colorado, because it wanted him as a runner.

"During the recruiting process, we were told we had a genuine opportunity to play as freshmen," Johnson said recalling that painful first year in 1997. "We came into camp thinking we were going to play. After the second or third game of that year, Coach Neuheisel pulled the whole freshman class to the side."

Neuheisel went back on what the freshmen perceived to be a recruiting promise. They would not, in fact, play that first year.

"I think a few guys genuinely were lied to in the recruiting process to get them here," Johnson said.

Welcome to the real world, Cortlen. A year later, Neuheisel showed little of the commitment he had asked his redshirts to show by sitting out their first year. He left abruptly after the 1998 season, leaving the Buffs briefly in chaos.

"The majority of the team was ready to transfer and leave," Johnson said.

Former receiver Eric McCready got up at a players-only meeting and urged everyone to stay together.

"We'd become too close to let something like this tear us apart," Johnson said.

Neuheisel refuses to comment on Colorado much anymore. His success at Washington has been documented and should be lauded.

But when the current seniors were recruited, Colorado was still a strong and vibrant program. Since then, it has slipped down the side of the Flatirons mountain range near Boulder, into a valley and up the other side. The Buffs and Gary Barnett have survived through the collateral damage of the coaching change with some tough times.

"Any time there is a coaching change, you're going to have kids thinking about transferring," said Barnett, a finalist for at least one coach of the year award this season. "I bet 99 percent of freshmen think about transferring. College football is just so much more demanding. These guys just happened to go through a coaching change, most guys don't go through one."

Barnett has done a masterful job this year, somehow manufacturing an 8-2 record despite key injuries to linebacker Jashon Sykes, quarterback Craig Ochs and receiver John Minardi. The fifth-year seniors have measured themselves but are stepping up. They have been the heart and soul of the Buffs' resurgent season.

"If someone had told me that at the beginning of the season, I would have said we'd be lucky to be 5-5 going into Nebraska," Barnett said.

Half a country away, Neuheisel will be trying to mess up the BCS himself, playing No. 1 Miami. Back in Boulder, he might have left his greatest gift to Colorado with that redshirt class of survivors.

"Winning Friday would definitely be an inadvertent gift from him," Johnson said. "It would be that much sweeter for us."