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You have to walk the land with John and Connie Makovicka. You have to pet their sheep and study their cattle.

You need to stare at the huge, wide, open sky at sunset -- the orange streaks against a blue-and-white background.

You need to just stand there, and feel the land. Let the solitude set in. Listen to what you think is silence, and hear the whippoorwills and crickets.

You don't hear cars, sirens or even your next-door neighbors.

There are no neighbors to be seen on this 240-acre spread off a dirt road.

Places such as the Makovicka ranch are the home of most of Nebraska's players. A check of the Cornhuskers roster reveals that 48 of the 88 players on the depth chart are from Nebraska.

Thirty-one of them were walk-ons, who have since earned scholarships.

The point is that for every knucklehead such as Lawrence Phillips, Nebraska has had 100 kids such as fullback Joel Makovicka.

Consider that Makovicka had only nine kids in his grade school class -- himself and eight girls, and it went on like that for six years.

Consider that he never played organized football until the seventh grade.

Consider when he did play football, it was eight men on the field because the schools were so small, they couldn't field traditional 11-man teams.

Consider that his graduation class was 20, and there were 18 on the football team.

Consider that the Makovickas seem to own this whole area, as brothers and uncles also live on nearby farms and a huge silo with their name lords over it all.

Consider that Joel was the 1993 Nebraska state champion for showing his Simmental cow. You have to groom it, teach it to walk with you and make sure it's the best cow in the state, period.

It is from this ranch that the last two starting fullbacks from Nebraska were raised. Jeff Makovicka (1992-95) and Joel, who has had the position since 1996.

``This is a great place to grow up,'' said John, their father. ``The kids are exposed to a lot. They play all the sports. Both boys showed sheep, and then cattle. Joel played the saxophone in the band.''

And he dreamed of wearing Nebraska red on days such as tomorrow, when the Huskers open their season against Akron in front of 76,000 fans at Memorial Stadium.

Going to Big Red

John Makovicka took his two oldest sons to Nebraska games when they were smaller than stalks of young June corn.

``We'd stand by the tunnel and watch the players go into and out of the stadium,'' said Joel Makovicka. ``It was as if they were gods. I mean, if they just looked at you, it was a big deal.''

One day, a member of the team stopped and gave Jeff Makovicka a glove he wore in the game.

``From that day, I knew Jeff wanted to go to Nebraska,'' said his father.

At little East Butler High, Jeff was a star.

``But not one college offered him a scholarship,'' said John Makovicka. ``I played at Kearney State, and all they did was invite Jeff to walk on.''

Actually, John was good enough at the Division II school to earn an invitation to try out with the Miami Dolphins. Both boys will tell you that their father was the best athlete in the family. True or not, it shows the respect of the sons for the father.

``We sent films of Jeff to a bunch of schools, including Nebraska,'' said John Makovicka.

No response, other than a Nebraska assistant who said Jeff didn't have the right stuff to even try and walk on.

``I called Coach (Tom) Osborne,'' said Makovicka.

The coach took the call. He agreed to review Jeff's film.

``The next day, Coach Osborne called back and invited Jeff to walk on,'' said his father. ``On the first day of practice, there were 150 kids on the field, and Coach Osborne knew Jeff's name. That was amazing, because at that time, Jeff was as low on the depth chart as you can get.''

Over and over, you hear these stories.

Kids from Nebraska walk on. Osborne knows who they are, and keeps an eye on them. After a few years, they earn a scholarship.

Just this week, Osborne announced the names of six more Nebraska walk-ons who had been given football scholarships.

``In this state, we know that Coach Osborne is a tremendous, loyal individual,'' John Makovicka said. ``That is why you see so many brother combinations who play for him. We trust Coach Osborne with our sons.''

The Cornhusker family

Jeff blazed the trail for Joel, who is now a junior.

Like Jeff, no Division I school offered Joel a scholarship. Only this time, the family had no need to beg for a tryout. Osborne knew there is something very special in the Makovicka bloodlines -- and quickly invited Joel to try out.

Dad is a physical therapist.

Mom worked as a bookkeeper to help her husband finish school, then Connie took over the tasks of raising five kids and keeping an eye on the farm.

``In our family we were raised to be good role models,'' said Joel Makovicka. ``We never want to do anything to embarrass our parents.''

Joel Makovicka is more than the team's starting fullback. He is more than a guy shaped like a bullet, as his 5-foot-11 frame is creased with 235 pounds of muscle.

He has a 3.89 grade-point average in pre-medicine, his only ``B'' coming in chemistry. He wants to be a doctor and quickly ticks off the names of five former Nebraska football players who have done just that.

It's not like Makovicka is the only student on this team. The Huskers have had more academic All-Americans (50) than any other school, Notre Dame (38) being in second place.

In the Nebraska media guide, more pages are devoted to academics (six) than to Huskers in the NFL (three). Last year, 20 Nebraska players were on the 1996 All-Big 12 academic honor roll, and the school had the highest graduation rate in the Big 12 with 74 percent.

``It's all part of playing here -- the tradition of the academics and the football,'' Joel Makovicka said. ``That is why it's hard for us when we have a couple of incidents that receive national attention. It's really not what our program is like.''

That is another constant you hear in Nebraska. People invite you to look beyond the headlines of Phillips and some other players who are afoul of the law.

They tell you that most kids are like those from the Makovicka family. They ask you to drive the backroads, talk to the people who raise our food.

Then stand out in some field, alone.

Think about what you've been told from people whose voices seldom are heard over the blare of the headlines.