Emilio Estevez once said: “I’ve never been a guy that went out there to get publicity. I never saw the value in it.” When you recall that he and Charlie Sheen are brothers, you erase any notion that similarity of background correlates to future behavioral congruity.

Still, in the case of the 2011 Huskies, a boy can hope. For there are these odd coincidences shared by this year’s Husky footballers and one of our favorite Husky teams of yore.

Let us count the similarities between the 2011 Huskies and the Huskies of 1990:

1990: Sophomore quarterback from Southern California in his first year as starter (Mark Brunell)
2011: Sophomore quarterback from Southern California in his first year as starter (Keith Price)

1990: Impressive bowl game performance the season before (34-7 Freedom Bowl win over Florida)
2011: Impressive bowl game performance the season before (19-7 Holiday Bowl win over Nebraska)

1990: In week one, barely squeaked by a far inferior team (20-17 win over San Jose State)
2011: In week one, barely squeaked by a far inferior team (30-27 win over Eastern Washington)

1990: In week two, played better, but not that great (20-14 win over an awful Purdue team)
2011: In week two, played better, but not that great (40-32 win over Hawaii)

1990: In week three, were underdogs against a highly-ranked opponent (4.5-point ‘dogs vs. #5 USC).
2011: In week three, are underdogs against a highly-ranked opponent (16.5-point ‘dogs @ #11 Nebraska).

If you are a Husky fan born in the 1970s or before, you will know exactly what happened in that week three 21 years ago, and you probably are already mouthing this quote: “All I saw was purple.”

That was the lament of USC quarterback Todd Marinovich after he and the Trojans absorbed a 31-0 beating at Husky Stadium. In hindsight, the victory seems inevitable. The Trojans were at the start of a decline that would see them finish 3-8 the next year. The Huskies were at the start of an ascent that would see them finish undefeated the next year. And Marinovich may have been high.

At the time, the outcome wasn’t so obvious. Before the game, Husky coach Don James went so far as to say that UW didn’t “belong on the same field” with USC–a remark that, if uttered today, would probably bring down KJR’s phone lines.

You might say: “It wasn’t such a stretch that the Huskies beat USC so bad, I mean, the Huskies were ranked and all.” True. But you also might say, if the Huskies win big at Nebraska on Saturday, “I mean, the Huskies beat them by two touchdowns last December!”

There are several reasons to believe that the Huskies can compete against Nebraska:

1) Nebraska relies on their running game, and the Huskies are, after two games, 7th in the nation against the run.
2) Washington CBs Quinton Richardson and Desmond Trufant are top-notch, and should be able to handle Nebraska’s receivers one-on-one. This would free up the safeties to step up toward the line and focus on stopping UN’s running attach.
3) Nebraska’s weakness is secondary depth, and Huskies have a lot of pass receiving weapons–and a quarterback who distributes the ball to multiple receivers.

Former quarterback Brunell, incidentally, is still in the NFL, as a backup for the New York Jets. He turns 41 on Sunday, and wouldn’t it be sweet for the Huskies to honor him with a throwback win?

Game is at 12:30 p.m. Saturday on ABC (here in Seattle, ESPN or ESPN2 elsewhere in the country). You can also watch on ESPN3 on your computer machine.