Todd Reesing did something Saturday against Nebraska that Kansas football fans were not used to — slide. It provided a sad reminder to those who hoped for so much more from this season and from their beloved Jayhawks, who are now sliding toward the end of the season.

But the season isn’t over, and the frustrated Kansas team still has something to fight for.

As much as fans were frustrated by the forced fumbles that resulted in Reesing’s head-on runs against Texas Tech and Kansas State, the slides that came against Nebraska were too symbolic of this season to ignore.

Kansas started the season off with a five-game winning streak, only to slide through the Big 12 losing five of six games. People are probably saying the season is over; the only remaining teams on the schedule are the Texas Longhorns, who are No. 2 in the BCS standings, and the hit-and-miss Missouri Tigers. But this Kansas team knows there are goals yet to be accomplished and a season left to reclaim.

It may be a fantastical vision, but what if Kansas goes into Austin, Texas, and pulls off the most incredible upset in the school’s recent history? Coach Mark Mangino should pitch that possibility to his players, who might be feeling like taking a knee for the rest of the year.

His pregame speech should raise the hairs on the back of every player’s neck and inspire them to give this game the amount of effort deserving of the Big 12 Championship game.

The time each of these Kansas players has spent on the practice fields and in the weight room has taught them many life lessons — one of the most important being not to quit. There needs to be a collective realization on the team that the season could be as far from over as they want it to be.

The seniors could be happy with ending their careers at Kansas with a five and seven record, or they could fight like thousands of fans saw when the Jayhawks were fighting for a BCS bowl bid in 2007.

One more victory and Kansas becomes bowl eligible. Two more victories and Kansas is guaranteed a bowl bid. Because of the mess in the Big 12 North, one game doesn’t guarantee anything, but it opens the door for extending the season.

The prospects of not making a bowl game should jolt the team and its seniors out from the corner they have put themselves in and inspire a last push. Players such as Kerry Meier, Todd Reesing and Darrell Stuckey have given the Jayhawk faithful as many ecstatic memories as the likes of Gale Sayers and John Hadl did in generations past.

This is a calling to the Kansas team so many of us remember: It is your last chance to make history.

Follow Nicolas Roesler at twitter.com/nroesler8.

— Edited by Nick Gerik