A dash of coaching longevity. A sprinkle of big-game experience. A large tablespoon of talent. And a pinch of good luck.

In fact, the last four national title winners — Florida State, Nebraska, Florida and Tennessee — have all concocted their championship runs with the same recipes.

Coaching longevity? How about the legendary career of Nebraska’s Tom Osborne.

Big-game experience? The Seminoles feature a graveyard of opponents’ turf symbolizing all of FSU’s big road victories.

A talent pool? No team sent more players to the NFL draft this year than the Florida Gators.

And good luck? Tennessee escaped last year’s Arkansas game with a prayer… and reached college football heaven as a result.

As for the Texas Aggies, it appears they also can be part of the national title mix in 1999.

• R.C. Slocum is now in his 11th year as head coach, and he carries a talented coaching staff that was kept mostly intact from a year ago.

• The Aggies won two of their biggest games in school history last fall, first by beating then-No. 2 Nebraska, 28-21, to halt the Huskers’ 19-game winning streak. A&M followed that victory up with an improbable, double-overtime win over No. 1 Kansas State to steal the Big 12 title in St. Louis.

• In all, the Aggies played four top-five teams in ’98, winning two and losing bookend games to Florida State and Ohio State.

• As for the maroon talent pool, A&M returns 16 starters from an 11-3 team. And while Slocum will be the first to say returning talent doesn’t guarantee any victories in a new season, a wealth of experienced players and the influx of newcomers like sophomore receiver Bethel Johnson and back-up quarterback Mark Farris don’t hurt matters, either.

• And luck? A&M is due some. Kyle Field was the Noah’s Ark of college football last season, and surely the injury bug won’t deplete the Aggie backfield like it did in ’98.

Still, A&M was able to string together one of its most memorable seasons in school history.

"It was gratifying last year to be able to say, ‘I told you so. I told you that we weren’t that far off,’" Slocum said.

The Aggies are closer now than they have been since 1975, the last time A&M seriously flirted with national title dreams. Yes, there were high hopes heading into the 1995 season, with senior quarterback Corey Pullig and Heisman Trophy hopeful Leeland McElroy leading the way. The Sporting News and Playboy even had A&M ranked No. 1 to begin the year.

But the Aggies really hadn’t walked the walk. They had been stuck in the Southwest Conference, playing only the nation’s elite teams in the Cotton Bowl. A solid 9-3 season ensued in ’95, but any national title dreams were dashed early on by the Colorado Buffaloes.

Close losses to Florida State and Notre Dame in the early 1990s gave A&M some token respect nationally, but nothing like the kudos that came College Station’s way after A&M beat Nebraska and K-State last fall.

Now the A&M players have tasted the big games, won the big games and can truly see themselves basking in the national spotlight. The prevailing theme around Aggieland is not cockiness, but renewed enthusiasm to defend a Big 12 title and return to New Orleans, the site of this year’s Bowl Championship Series national title game.

"We’ll be better than last year," said senior receiver Chris Cole. "It will be hard to match a season like that, but we didn’t win it all. We lost to Texas, so we can clean that up easily. There’s no reason why we should have lost that game. So this gives us a chance to go have a perfect regular season and try to win the big one. The stage is set for us to go have a great year. It’s just a matter of us going out at as a unit and getting it done. We can talk about it all day, but getting out there on the field is another thing. We’ve got the tools, we just have to handle the business.

"We’re big-time football. We’ve won the big games, and we know what it takes. We’re legit. We are the big boys."

There’s no question Sirr Parker on the slant for the game-winning touchdown against KSU did wonders for the Texas A&M program. On college football’s national stage Dec. 5, the Aggies stole the show.

But the big games and respectable outings against Florida State in the Kickoff Classic and Ohio State in last year’s Nokia Sugar Bowl infused even more confidence into this team.

Now road games to Lincoln, Neb., and bowl games with top-five teams don’t loom as such unthinkable conquests anymore.

"Going to Lincoln, that’ll be fun," Cole added. "But they’ll have their hands full. We feel real confident, and I know that sounds cocky. But we’re confident we can play with anybody."

Added junior offensive lineman Chris Valletta: "The attitude on this team is, now that we know we can do it, let’s go all the way with it. In the back of everybody’s heads, we’re all thinking a national championship. I don’t think a team should think anything less than a national championship. I think if you set your goals at a Big 12 championship, that’s great.

"But why not shoot for the stars when you’re thinking championships? There’s no question in my mind we can win all our games next year. And there’s no question in my mind that we can have a national championship-caliber football team."

The basis for such high hopes in College Station also is a reflection of the confidence among team members that the Aggie offense seems poised for a breakout season. Sure, those words have been uttered before, but with a senior quarterback in Randy McCown, a spark-plug tailback in Dante Hall, a blossoming bruiser in Ja’Mar Toombs and a receiving corps as deep as it is fast, A&M should improve dramatically on its No. 92 national ranking in total offense from a year ago.

Perhaps only another El Nino weather pattern will be able to keep the Aggies from scoring some serious points in ’99.

"We have so much talent," said sophomore Tango McCauley, who is battling senior Shea Holder for the starting left tackle spot. "At receiver, Bethel is a sleeper. No one knows about him yet. They’ll find out pretty soon. Chris Taylor, he explained himself last year.

"The backfield is loaded, and the defense is going to be as good a defense as we’ve had here in a long time. We’ve got some speed on that defense. I think the team has a lot of talent. The thing we have to do is stay focused like last year. We had a lot of leadership, and we had one common goal. If we establish that this year, I think we’ll (reach the same goals) as we did last year."

A&M finished 10th nationally in total defense last season and improved 42 spots — from 67th nationally to 22nd — in stopping the run. Yet, when the defensive coaches poured over the film of the ’98 season, they admitted the Aggies still had problems stopping the power running game of an Ohio State or even a Missouri.

With three key defensive players like Lombardi Award winner Dat Nguyen, outside linebacker Warrick Holdman and strong safety Rich Coady now in the NFL, the Wrec king Crew must rely on new leaders to emerge, guys like junior inside linebacker Cornelius Anthony and senior free safety Brandon Jennings.

Senior cornerback Jason Webster, a preseason all-conference pick, had a stellar spring and could be the most consistent player on the field for the maroon and white. Yet, Webster’s steady game is not known nationally.

"I think this is going to be a no-name defense," inside linebacker coach Alan Weddell said. "I think we’ve got good depth. Just like (defensive line coach) Bill Johnson played six guys almost equally (in 1998), I think you’ll see the same thing at linebacker. You can’t pick anyone out as an All-American, but as a group, they are as good as there is.

"I think the potential (of the defense) is unlimited. No. 1, we’re young. We’ve got three starters in the secondary, and that’s a good place to be experienced in. That (front seven) should get nothing but better because they’re young, and there’s good competition there. The cream will rise to the top, and whichever one of those (linebackers) is destined to be the next Dat Nguyen will get an opportunity to do that."

The Aggies return perhaps their most reliable defensive weapon in senior punter Shane Lechler, and kicker Russell Bynum returns with a stronger leg he conditioned extensively in the spring.

The only facet missing from the 1999 season for the Aggies is a marquee schedule. The 1999 non-conference slate is less than awe-inspiring, with no top-25 teams on the docket.

Last year, the Aggies used the thought of playing FSU in the Kickoff Classic as their summer rallying cry. This season, A&M must look forward to a season opener Sept. 4 against Louisiana Tech.

"You take the schedule you have and try to make the best of it," Slocum said. "We have some big games down the road. Our first conference game is out in Lubbock, so we have some things to get ready for."

Indeed, A&M’s first real test of the year will come in Lubbock on Oct. 2, when Big 12 play begins. Should the Aggies escape Jones Stadium with a victory, they could be 8-0 heading into the showdown with Nebraska Nov. 6.

No matter what happens in Lincoln that day, A&M could see the Huskers again in San Antonio on Dec. 4 for the Big 12 title game.