Yes, it’s time to look ahead. Already.

Less than 48 hours have passed since the Kansas University football team completed its dazzling finish to a once-doomed season, winning four of its last five games and going home for the holidays as a winning football team for the first time in a decade.

The Jayhawks (7-5) have the normal student winter break to rest up, take it easy and work out the aches before conditioning drills start in mid-January.

From there, it’s another chapter in the annual race for playing time. Defensively, the questions are out there regarding the possibility of young and athletic specimens like Mike Rivera and Brandon Duncan covering the gaping hole left by experience and intelligence in departing seniors like Nick Reid, Banks Floodman and Kevin Kane.

Meanwhile, the offense is springing into spring drills coming off a performance against Houston in which it rolled to 538 yards of total offense in a 42-13 Fort Worth Bowl victory on Friday.

“It gives us a little bit of confidence,” running back Jon Cornish said of the offensive steamroll at Amon G. Carter Stadium. “Now, next year we have to come out and take the next step.”

The next step Cornish alludes to certainly seems realistic to believe, with most of the offensive starters returning. Of course, as KU fans saw in lackluster performances against Kansas State and Oklahoma, the quarterback play can go a long way in developing consistency, and it’s the big question mark heading into 2006.

Kansas plans on having four quarterbacks on scholarship next year — senior Adam Barmann, redshirt freshman Kerry Meier and true freshmen Todd Reesing and Tyler Lawrence. Reesing plans to enroll in January, but neither he nor Lawrence will sign letters of intent until February.

As of now, it seems Meier would be the frontrunner for the No. 1 spot, though nearly every spring of Mangino’s tenure has had quarterback competition dominating the headlines. Meier took a redshirt, but it was no cinch and might not have happened if a heart ailment in the preseason hadn’t hindered him physically and emotionally.

“In the long term, it’s going to benefit us tremendously,” KU coach Mark Mangino said of sitting Meier out. “He’s gotten a lot of experience running the scout team. He’s been knocked around. He’s learned how to throw the ball against a very good defense, how to manage an offense against a very good defense.

“The value of being on the scout team will benefit him next year and the year after throughout his career. We’re real pleased with his progress.”

Whether it’s Meier or someone else under center, an experienced supporting cast will be in place. Only one starter, Matt Thompson, is lost on the offensive line. Wide receivers Charles Gordon — if he plays there — and Brian Murph both return, and Cornish and Brandon McAnderson expect to be big pieces in the backfield.

Cornish finished the season as the team’s top running back, rushing for 780 yards and nine touchdowns, and getting a solid 5.8 yards per carry. He had 101 yards on 16 carries on Friday, and with Clark Green’s graduation, the featured back position could be his to lose.

If nothing else, though, Cornish will split the load with someone else like he did with Green this season so he can continue to play on special teams. Who that could be — and who else is lining up at the skilled positions — is a question that will slowly be answered in the coming months.

“(Friday) might be a novelty, but I believe next year we’ll be more successful on offense,” Cornish said. “Now, more consistent is the big thing, because we had several games this year where we didn’t play to our ability. Next year we’ll be able to do that a little bit more.”