Here’s a hypothetical, directed to all you dreamers out there:

Northwestern graduate assistants are dispatched to Madison, Wis., where they kidnap former defensive coordinator Ron Vanderlinden — now linebackers coach at Penn State — and bring him back to Evanston. They force him to talk to the Wildcats defense late Friday night. Hours later NU’s band of freshmen and sophomores stymie the nation’s best running back, limiting him to 4.5 yards a carry.

Quarterback Brett Basanez maintains the poise he showed early against Michigan State, leading the offense on two 14-play, 93-yard drives. Jason Wright shimmies his way for 200 yards. Noah Herron puts Mike Doss on a gurney with a head to the groin. Air Willie inflates, miraculously hops across the field without falling on his face, then drops the people’s elbow on the turnip-like Brutus Buckeye.

But NU loses. 43-42. On a 55-yard field goal into a driving rain and biting wind.

Nonetheless, the team shows vast improvement. No one remembers Air Force and Texas Christian now. Thoughts of a 4-win season bring smiles to the students and alums spilling out onto Central Avenue.

So … Randy Walker, your thoughts?

“I’m tired of measuring success based on improvement. That’s a cop out. The bottom line is we didn’t win.”

Whoa, coach, they played their hearts out, cut down their mental mistakes, did their school proud, no?

“We don’t come here to put on a good show.”

Now, before you pull out those “mean people suck” T-shirts, hear this. For more than half a century, NU has been the Mecca for moral victories, a place where doing your best has sufficed, making people forget about a record more bottom-heavy than Nate Newton after a BK run.

Few, outside from the players themselves, have ever expected victory here. Nebraska fans contemplate suicide after Huskers losses; NU fans try to remember where they parked their cars.

“All of us that invest greatly, it’s losing its satisfaction,” Walker said. “We want to win football games.”

Disgusted. Unsatisfied. Motivated.

That is exactly how you want your football coach to act after a loss. Any loss. Big-time college football is not about moving from three wins to eight wins then back to four wins. That’s not building a winner.

Like it or not, this sport is about numbers, and at some schools — big-time programs — numbers determine coaching jobs.

Somewhere along the line, NU administrators missed this point. But at Monday’s media gab session, Walker beat them to it. He raised the bar for his football team. More importantly, he raised the bar for himself.

But talk is cheap, and Walker knows it. And that is why Director of Athletics Rick Taylor should call his bluff and up the ante.

It’s simple: Win six or more games in 2003. If not, pack your bags.

That will be Walker’s fifth season at NU, more than enough time to establish a recruiting base, a deep and inexperienced roster and a commitment to winning. By then, the post-Barnett exodus (1999), Rashidi Wheeler’s death (2001) and untimely injuries to key players (2002) won’t hold water anymore.

You don’t pay a coach six figures to win three games in a deflated Big Ten. You can’t ride the Rose Bowl forever.

Walker wants to win now, and NU must hold him to his word with clear, direct action. It’s a numbers game, and NU needs to join in.

Gameday co-editor Adam Rittenberg is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].