The originals are reclaiming the Big 12 North. </p><p>By the end of Saturday&rsquo;s action, Kansas State and Nebraska had established themselves as the division leaders. Rather, they re-established themselves. </p><p>The Cornhuskers and Wildcats were conference kingpins when the Big 12 opened for business, combining to win the first five North division titles. But they haven&rsquo;t been good together in several years, at least good enough to win the kind of games they won on Saturday. </p><p>Kansas State wiped away three years of frustration against archrival Kansas, and Nebraska finally overtook a program it had been chasing for most of the decade by beating Oklahoma. </p><p>If it seemed like old times, no wonder. A couple of old timers, Bill Snyder and Tom Osborne, are behind this resurgence. </p><p>They were there when the conference started, long before, actually, and more than earned the right to step away, Osborne from coaching after the 1997 national title season and Snyder after 2005. But what was it Bear Bryant said when he left Texas A&M for Alabama? &ldquo;Mama called, and when mama calls, you just have to come running.&rdquo; </p><p>These pleas from the prairie were no different. At Nebraska, the brain trust of athletic director Steve Pederson and coach Bill Callahan not only produced football losers but damaged the program&rsquo;s culture. </p><p>Look no further than their de-emphasis of the Cornhuskers&rsquo; fabled walk-on program. </p><p>Once his days as a politician ended, Osborne, 72, agreed to replace Pederson. The coach so respected that his waiting period for entry into the sport&rsquo;s hall of fame was waived set about fixing things by ousting Callahan and hiring Bo Pelini. </p><p>At Kansas State, the losses in the Ron Prince regime were compounded by the embarrassments away from the game. Lawsuits over contract buyouts and settlements dominated offseason news. </p><p>So much for the fishing and bridge clubs, although truth be known, both men remained remarkably busy with service projects, including a joint effort for mentoring youth ( <a href="http://www.kansasmentors.org">www.kansasmentors.org</a>). To the rescue rode Snyder, 70, engineer of the game&rsquo;s greatest turnaround whose charge was to repair the damage to his creation. </p><p>This is Osborne&rsquo;s second full football season as athletic director, Snyder&rsquo;s first in his return to the sideline. Last year, Nebraska tied Missouri for first in the division, and the Cornhuskers, at 3-2 in Big 12 play, are a half-game behind the Wildcats. </p><p>Kansas State, which hasn&rsquo;t had a winning conference record since 2003, is 4-2 and one victory away from qualifying for a bowl game. </p><p>So, it&rsquo;s not the high-wire acts of the days before hybrid cars and hybrid linebackers. But Saturday&rsquo;s outcomes cemented confidence in the game plans. </p><p>There have and will be turnovers along the way for both. Nebraska&rsquo;s conquest of the Sooners followed two ugly home losses. Kansas State still needs that one triumph for the postseason because of a loss at Sun Belt also-ran Louisiana-Lafayette. </p><p>Ah, but that was October and September, ancient history. The Cornhuskers and Wildcats are headed for a Nov. 21 showdown in Lincoln that, like the old days, could be for the division championship. They first have to get through this weekend, when Nebraska visits Kansas and K-State plays host to Missouri. </p><p>And this being the North, anything can happen. The same team can lose by 52 one week and win by 48 the next. A team can commit eight turnovers and lose a game 9-7 at home, and later can gain five interceptions and win 10-3. </p><p>But that 100-point swing team hadn&rsquo;t defeated Kansas in three years, and then it did. The turnover-makeover team hadn&rsquo;t beaten the conference&rsquo;s most dominant program in nearly a decade, and then it did. </p><p>What does it mean? The grandpas know what they&rsquo;re doing.