Blackshirts Tony Ortiz, Carlos Polk and Steve Warren gang-tackle Colorado player Eric McCready. LANE HICKENBOTTOM/DN

For some on the Colorado football squad that found itself trailing Nebraska 27-3 at the start of the fourth quarter in Saturday's 33-30 overtime loss to the Cornhuskers, the last period was an illumination, a small victory in a world of defeat.

For the Buffalo seniors, who are winless against NU teams, it was but a drop of rosewater in a pool of tar.

Anyway, it was yet another oh-so-close sting of defeat.

"I'm at a loss for words," CU Head Coach Gary Barnett said after the game. "So many guys played great football. I don't think I've ever seen more heart and resolve in a team."

At the end of the first quarter, CU was looking down the barrel of the Husker offensive cannon that was already battering away at the Buffs for 205 yards and a 17-0 lead.

"You know you're in for a bad day when the buffalo won't come out," said Barnett, commenting on Ralphie, CU's 700-pound buffalo mascot that refused to lead the team on the field before the game. He shook his head. "Suspicious beginnings," he said with a smile.

And auspicious endings: because it wasn't all bad.

For the shimmering moment of the fourth quarter, it seemed the Buffaloes could do no wrong.

MATT HANEY/DN

Down 27-3, CU's Jeremy Aldrich started the Buffaloes' 24-point scoring bonanza with a 49-yard field goal to cap a 40-yard, penalty-wracked drive that included CU's first big gains of the day with two passes of 27 and 20 yards from Mike Moschetti to wideout Marcus Stiggers.

Talk about your suspicious beginnings.

"Coach Barnett wanted to throw everything at Nebraska: reverses, on-sides, going long," said Colorado wide receiver Roman Hollowell. "And in the fourth quarter we started going downfield, and that loosened us up and gave us a running game, too."

Thereafter, the Buffs were getting breaks and making some of their own. With 10:17 left in the fourth and Nebraska with the ball at its own 43, CU linebacker Jashon Sykes stripped the ball from Husker wingback Bobby Newcombe.

Moschetti jumped right back in the loop, completing an 8-yard pass to Stiggers and hitting wide receiver Javon Green for a 25-yard pickup before finding wideout John Minardi in the corner of the endzone for a 14-yard touchdown to cut the NU lead to 27-13.

The Huskers went four and out on their next possession and a 64-yard Dan Hadenfeldt punt resulted in a touchback for CU.

Once again, Moschetti grabbed the reins and 10 plays, 80 yards, two NU penalties and two and a half minutes later, the Buffaloes were just seven points behind the Huskers.

Colorado now recovered an on-side kick that gave it the ball at its own 44-yard line with 3:38 left in the game.

And while Ralphie wasn't running, the Buffs decided they'd give it a shot.

	Nebraska stopped Colorado's return threat Ben Kelly, who gained 15 yards on three punt returns and 16 yards on one kickoff return. LANE HICKENBOTTOM/DN

Moschetti, after his own 22-yard jaunt, handed off to tailback Cortlen Johnson. Johnson, who had been stymied by the NU defense all day, ran right through the Blackshirts for an 18-yard gain to the Nebraska 16-yard line.

"They were getting tired," Johnson said. "And we wanted to prove something with our offense. (NU defensive players) were saying, 'You guys are a good test for us, getting us ready for Texas, for the Big 12 Championship.' I kept saying, 'The game isn't over yet.' They quit talking after awhile."

And they were dead silent two plays later when Green hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Moschetti that tied it, 27-27.

"We had the momentum on our side, no question," Green said. "We were just pounding and pounding."

With 2:03 left, the Buffs found themselves with the ball once again, this time pinned back at their own 5-yard line following another booming Hadenfeldt punt.

On second and 10, Johnson went up the middle on a draw and fell into Mike Brown and a host of Husker tacklers that cushioned the sophomore tailback and kept him on his feet just long enough for Brown to strip the ball and cornerback Keyuo Craver to dive on it.

It was NU's ball at the CU 16.

"I said to myself, 'I can't believe you just did that,'" Johnson said.

But CU defenders that met him as he was coming off the field told Johnson that they would get the ball back.

Sure enough, the first Husker play was a fumbled option pitch and once again, Sykes found himself on top of a turnover.

With 1:43 to go, Barnett called the very same play that Johnson had fumbled on, and this time Johnson held on for a 27-yard romp through the heart of the Husker defense.

Moschetti then hit Minardi for a 36-yard gain to the Nebraska 22-yard line. Two rushing plays gained six yards, and the Buffs called timeout with one second remaining in the game.

Aldrich came on for a 34-yard field goal attempt, was frozen by a Nebraska time out and missed wide right.

"What can I say?" Aldrich said. "I missed it."

It's all Aldrich did say.

In the overtime period, Aldrich would hit a 33-yarder from almost exactly the same spot as his previous miss.

But it would not be enough, as Crouch finally relieved NU with a touchdown to seal the win.

"We played our hearts out," said Johnson, who finished with 135 yards on 25 carries. "We were not going to die."

For the Buffalo seniors, who have not beaten Nebraska in four years, there were many tears. Moschetti, twice the victim of the Huskers, broke down.

"This is the type of game - win or lose - that you'll remember the rest of your life," he said. "It'll stick with me."