COLORADO CONTROVERSY A NEW ONE FOR NEUHEISEL.

Byline: Jon Wilner

He was a Rose Bowl hero, assistant-coaching prodigy and the big man in Boulder. Now, for the first time since his senior season at UCLA, Rick Neuheisel faces adversity.

And it's a brew of his own making.

``If it put too much pressure on the players . . . then I have to learn from that mistake personally,'' he said Monday, at his weekly press conference.

``It'' was title talk.

Before the season began, Neuheisel repeatedly was asked about the prospects for his Colorado Buffaloes. Our goal is the national championship, he responded with typical honesty and cockiness. In just his second season as coach, Neuheisel didn't run from the expectations. But after a 20-13 loss to Michigan last Saturday, his critics have come out of hiding.

``It's people who aren't popular who just want to take him down,'' Colorado sports information director Dave Plati said. ``It's newspaper columnists and radio talk-show jerks. You go 12-3 and are ranked in the top-five most of your tenure, and they hammer you.''

Ranked fifth in the preseason polls, Colorado opened with a 37-19 victory over unranked Washington State. Not a wide enough margin, the detractors said, and too many penalties.

The following week the Buffaloes led Colorado State by 14 points with two minutes left, and they went for a clinching touchdown. Neuheisel was railed for running up the score and ripped for playing Herchell Troutman instead of Mark Henry at tailback. And Troutman had rushed for 184 yards.

The Michigan loss?

Don't ask.

``We'll see how thick Neuheisel's skin is now that he has a loss,'' one Denver columnist said.

So far, so thick.

``Much too much has been made of this goal of a national championship,'' Neuheisel said. ``I know I fueled the fire, because I didn't shy away from it when asked about it.''

Neuheisel is experiencing the frustrations of expectations. It's a realm where 14-point victories aren't enough, where a loss to any team except Nebraska is unacceptable, where one defeat tarnishes a season. It's not a pretty place.

``This job isn't always going to be enjoyable,'' Neuheisel said. ``It's like playing golf, not every hole is going to be a par or birdie. You have to move on to the next hole. I don't have any hard feelings toward anyone who's critical of me. That's part of my job description.''

Neuheisel faced adversity early in the 1983 season when he was benched in favor of Steve Bono. But when Bono got hurt, Neuheisel returned to lead UCLA to a Rose Bowl rout of Illinois. He threw four touchdowns in the game.

``I'm anxious to see what this team does following adversity,'' he said. ``For whatever reason, there has been a lot of adversity this particular season. There's an old story that when you're down, `Let me lay here, bleed a while and I'm going to fight back.'

``That's exactly what this team is going to do. If we've lost a lot of people off this bandwagon, then we'll see them down the road because they'll jump back on.''

Bama's Bear party: A few months ago Paul Bryant Jr., decided to honor his father, the legendary Alabama coach, with a party for people named after the Bear.

Word spread quickly among the Crimson Tide faithful, and before the Alabama-Vanderbilt game on Saturday, 350 baby Bears - ranging in age from a few weeks to 44 years - gathered at Alabama's Bryant Museum.

``It was interesting to say, `Hey, Paul,' and see how many heads turned,'' museum director Ken Gaddy said. ``The majority of people had Bryant as their first or middle name, or were named Paul. A few had Bear as a nickname, and a bunch wore houndstooth hats (Bryant's trademark).''

Gaddy hopes to make it an annual event.

Big Red rolls in: Arizona State coach Bruce Snyder attended a coaching clinic this summer in which a Nebraska fan asked a 'Huskers assistant about the upcoming season.

``The bad news is, we'll lose a game,'' the coach said. ``The good news is, it won't be this year.''

Snyder hopes to prove the cocky Cornhuskers wrong Saturday in Tempe, in a rematch of last year's 77-28 Nebraska victory.

After that game, the Sun Devils accused Tom Osborne and Co. of running up the score. This week ASU is saying all the right things; no reason to anger the neighborhood bully a few days before the fight.

``We know we're not going to blow them out,'' Arizona State quarterback Jake Plummer deadpanned.

``I know this,'' Snyder said, ``we can't take anybody off the waiver wire to help us.''

He's hoping for some Sun Devils mystique - former coach Frank Kush will be honored at the game - but understands the reality of facing the two-time defending champions.

``It won't be magic,'' he said. ``Whoever beats Nebraska, Nebraska has to help them.''

A victory would be the Huskers' second in Sun Devil Stadium (the Fiesta Bowl was the first) since the Arizona Cardinals last won one.

And just wondering, but when was the last time a ranked Pac-10 team was a three-touchdown underdog playing at home? Nebraska is a 23-point heavy.

Around the Pac-10: During the summer an ingenious program director at KVAL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Eugene, Ore., bought the broadcast rights to the Oregon State-Baylor game on Saturday. That means college football fans there will see the Bears-Beavers instead of Tennessee-Florida. . . .

Arizona intercepted Illinois five times in the fourth quarter last week and returned three for touchdowns. Illini coach Lou Tepper shouldn't quit his day job. . . .

But no matter how bad things are in Champaign, they're worse at Oregon State. To wit: Robert Jackson III, a well-regarded defensive back from Crescent Valley High in Corvallis, recently gave a verbal commitment to Illinois. His father is an assistant coach at Oregon State. . . .

One of the most scrutinized players in the Pac-10 this season is California senior quarterback Pat Barnes, brother of former Bruins QB John. Pat Barnes is talented, but he has underachieved in recent years (partly due to injury) and thus demands a close look from NFL scouts. He's currently second in the nation in passing efficiency. . . .

Washington hosts Arizona on Saturday. In the last two meetings at Husky Stadium, the Dawgs have outscored Arizona 108-10.

MEMO: Staff Writer Jon Wilner's college football column appears Thursdays in the Daily News.