By Dennis Dodd
CBS SportsLine Senior Writer
Nov. 14, 1998

MANHATTAN, Kan -- Even during the biggest game in its 103-year football history, Kansas State still couldn't completely shed its image as bumbling but loveable buffoon.

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Its Heisman Trophy candidate fumbled five times and threw an interception. The nation's No. 1 scoring defense gave up 30 points, its most in 13 months. KSU Stadium prematurely disgorged itself onto the field to rip down the goal posts before the game was over.

And none of it mattered.

The No. 2 Wildcats (10-0) finally dispatched No. 11 Nebraska -- the hated Big Red menace from the North -- on a day dripping with history, if not crisply played football. The pollsters and computers will be left to decipher what the 40-30 K-State victory means in the big Bowl Championship Series picture but, for now, purple reigns.

The victory was enough for the largest crowd (44,298) ever to populate the stadium in this middle-of-nowhere burg. Middle-of-nowhere until coach Bill Snyder arrived 10 years ago and turned around the worst program in the country.

The Wildcats hit a memorable pinnacle Saturday, beating Nebraska for the first time in 30 years. The victory not only paid back Nebraska for 29 consecutive losses but also clinched the Big 12 North Division for the Wildcats, who have now won 18 in a row. They will play in the Big 12 championship game against Texas A&M on Dec. 5 in St. Louis.

THAT DAY COULD MARK K-STATE'S first and only conference title since winning the Big Six in 1934. Those facts alone were enough to make up for some of the miscues that K-State has become accustomed to over its long and mostly forgettable history.

"I'm humbled," Snyder said, "by the amount of time it took to do this."

His players -- college students that they are -- were more overt.

"Nebraska is a good team but they had a problem with us sticking with them and even beating them," said senior tight end Justin Swift, who endured three previous Nebraska losses by an average of 30 points. "When that happens obviously they've got to revert to the one thing they can do and that's talk trash and not really play football anymore."

Proof K-State fans are not used to celebrating: The goal posts came down before the game was even over Saturday. (AP)

THAT KIND OF SMACK KEPT QUARTERBACK Michael Bishop on the media sidelines once again after the game. The brilliant but emotional quarterback mixed his five fumbles (three lost) in with 446 yards of total offense. The combination of 140 yards rushing and 306 passing produced four touchdowns. Except for an ESPN interview leading up to this game, Bishop hasn't been allowed to speak to the media since Oct. 6

Bishop punctuated his turnovers by yelling at anyone who was available -- coaches, teammates, even officials. To say he was keyed up was an understatement. How many quarterbacks get a personal foul facemask penalty while they're being tackled? At one point, Bishop committed what looked like the unpardonable sin by actually getting in Snyder's face. But a lot can be forgiven when a national championship is in the balance.

"There were times today when it was really a negative," Snyder said. "In this case it's a positive thing. Michael is such a competitive athlete. I'm not so sure he'd have done those things if he hadn't acted like that."

As usual, Bishop was the center of attention and difference in the game. In the first half alone he threw a bad pitch on an option play, coughed it up after being sacked and fumbled at the goal line with his team driving toward a touchdown.

DESPITE ALL THAT, NEBRASKA LED ONLY 17-14 at halftime. It had, in effect, missed its chance. A calmer, wiser Bishop emerged in the second half and directed the comeback that might boost K-State to No. 1 in both polls for the first time.

"Mike knows what he's doing," receiver Aaron Lockett said. "That comes with Mike's character. With Mike you get some things you really don't want but at the same time you get some things that you really couldn't have dreamed of. It helps Mike more than hurts him."

The Huskers' failure to put the Wildcats away cost them. Midway through the third quarter both teams were playing with backup tailbacks. Nebraska was using third-stringer Correll Buckhalter after starter Dan Alexander was dispatched because of an early fumble.

K-State was down to a third-stringer after starter Eric Hickson hurt his leg and backup Frank Murphy fumbled. That was the worst thing that could happen to Nebraska (8-3) because Bishop touched the ball on 20 of 24 fourth-quarter snaps either scrambling himself or passing.

HE ULTIMATELY WAS THE HEART AND soul of a team that hadn't trailed since last year's Fiesta Bowl. With his team trailing 30-27, Bishop stood in and guided a meticulous 80-yard drive that ended with an 11-yard scoring pass to Darnell McDonald with 5:25 left.

"These guys have not had to come from behind against a good team," said Snyder, echoing the thoughts of every critic of his soft nonconference schedule.

The Wildcats proved, finally, they are not a statistical product of numbers padded against helpless opponents. This was Nebraska. One more loss by the Huskers will end a string of 29 consecutive seasons with at least nine victories. That streak began in 1969, the year after Kansas State last beat the Huskers.

"I'd have to say they are one of the best, if not the best we've played all season," Crouch said. "They played hard and physical and with a lot of heart."

WHEN IT BECAME EVIDENT K-State's long nightmare was over, the fans didn't quite know how to react. Jeff Kelly's game-clinching interception return for a touchdown with three seconds left earned the Wildcats a flag for excessive celebration.

The public address announcer proclaimed the game over only to realize there was a meaningless kickoff left. Showing their inexperience with such things, the students struggled getting the north goal post to the ground. Nothing, it seems, comes easy at Kansas State.

"We're tired of hearing we're still Kansas State," K-State defensive coordinator Mike Stoops said. "That ate at us for a long time. They came into our house and we beat them."

Finally.

Dennis Dodd is a senior writer in CBS SportsLine's Kansas City bureau.