Lucky for Zac Taylor that the Hard Rock Cafe T-shirt he wore following another glittery performance Saturday against Nicholls State promoted a location in San Francisco. Had the word “Los Angeles” been etched across the front, it would have been impossible for the Nebraska quarterback to claim his choice of postgame garb as mere coincidence.

But since San Francisco seems about as close to Seattle as it is to Los Angeles and the University of Southern California, we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt that he really wasn’t wearing thoughts of the Huskers’ next opponent on his sleeves.

“I’ve never been to California,” Taylor said. “I’ve had this (shirt) since I was a little kid. I stole it from my dad, or something.”

On Saturday, Taylor and his teammates played what amounted to a woodshed game — the kind where the opponent could do little to stop what wound up as a 56-7 beating.

Six days from now, Nebraska hopes to turn its game against the third-ranked Trojans into the benchmark of the Bill Callahan era. So, maybe Taylor really did have his eyes on USC before dinner Saturday night.

Asked if he plans on doing any sightseeing while in L.A., the senior responded: “I get to see the Coliseum.”

There, he’s sure to see plenty of stars wearing maroon and gold  — the owners of 46 wins in their past 48 games, two national championships and a defensive play away from a third.

“I don’t think that they’re going to be intimidated by any of the players coming in,” said Callahan, who knows there’s no way he can deke his colleague at USC, Pete Carroll, into believing the Huskers aren’t a threat to derail his talented squad.

“How do I see our chances? As good as anyone else’s.”

In other words, if you lump yourself into the 2-for-48 category of teams that have walked away victorious from a battle with the Men of Troy, you’ve got nothing to lose.

Hopefully, the army you bring possesses the kind of weaponry that gives you a fighting chance to pull off an upset.

From the start of Saturday’s contest, it was obvious that Division I-AA Nicholls State was going to amount to nothing more than target practice for the Huskers. The Colonels lost their starting quarterback on the fifth play of the game, and after running another 45 plays out of their triple-option attack, they’d managed but seven first downs.

Meanwhile, Nebraska methodically drove to touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions, and missed a 37-yard field goal on the other.

“I think we’re a lot more confident and sure of ourselves,” Taylor said when asked if he believes the Huskers are playing even better than they were at the end of last season, when they knocked off Michigan in the Alamo Bowl. “Then, we had some confidence and we knew what we were doing, but we were just kind of out there running around and making plays. Now, we know we can go down and score on teams.”

Nebraska has scored at least 49 points in consecutive games for the first time since the best team in school history, the 1995 unit, opened that season with four straight efforts of that magnitude.

Obviously, there’s no need to draw further comparison. But it’s OK to think that Nebraska’s fast start gives it reason to think it’s headed to L.A. for more than just a fun weekend getaway.

“I look at it as an honor,” said cornerback Andre Jones, whose play against the Trojans’ sometimes unstoppable receiving tandem of Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith will go a long way toward determining the Huskers’ level of success. “It’s going to be a grudge match. We’re going to fight out there. They’re going to catch balls, we’re going to knock down balls out there.

“No telling what’s going to happen, but I’ve just got a feeling we’re going to come out victorious. They’re a great team, but it’s going to be a good game.”

Jones spent the previous two years at Fresno City (Calif.) Community College. Again, that’s not in Southern California, but he still got a pretty good pulse on the Trojans, who opened the season with a 50-14 win against Arkansas and were the only Top 25 team idle Saturday.

So, does Jones think they’ve paid much attention to the Huskers?

“The scoreboard speaks for itself. Of course, they notice us a little bit,” he said.

And about that bye week coming before their game against Nebraska?

“That was not done by accident. That was purposely to prepare for us, because, obviously, they’re concerned about some things,” Jones added. “Smart move by them.”

Such brashness will either serve the Huskers well or blow up in their faces.

I’m pretty sure most of us would agree they’re not far enough along under Callahan to take down this kind of monster yet. At least not on the road. But you still have to admire their beliefs.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Jones said. “We’ve got a more competitive team now. USC has great coaches, great players,  and everything, and they’re probably looking at it the same way we’re looking at it. They know it’s going to be a fight.”

It’ll be up to the Huskers to make it go the distance. Just ask Taylor, who after two games is 41-for-56 for 489 yards, with seven touchdowns and just one interception. You can’t run an offense much better than that.

“I’ve had plenty of time back there in the pocket, but we’re going to see some bigger guys and they’re going to throw some different blitzes at us, so I’ve got to be prepared to spit the ball out a little quicker — and speed up some decisions,” he said. “I’ve done a decent job the last two weeks, but when you’re playing a high-caliber team like USC, you’re going to have to speed that stuff up.”