Florida Atlantic University, Appalachian State, Louisiana Tech. Henceforth, let this be known as the Moe, Larry and Curly portion of the Kansas University football schedule.

And everyone knows what must be done when confronted by Three Stooges: Poke them in the eyes, bop them on the heads, steel-toe them when they’re down, just thoroughly humiliate them by whatever means imaginable.

Bigger and stronger in physique and confidence, the Jayhawks need more than just three wins to make the most of the opening weeks of the season. They need to use September to inflate their already improved opinion of themselves so they look forward to a gruesome Big 12 Conference schedule. They need to develop a killer instinct that wasn’t there often enough a year ago.

Junior center David Ochoa, among the many who’ve grown physically and otherwise since 2004, addressed what he considers to be the most positive change.

“I think confidence is the biggest thing,” Ochoa said. “Last year, we were in games we were trying not to lose instead of trying to win.”

Ochoa said he’s noticed big growth from junior Adam Barmann, the quarterback he’ll be snapping the ball to tonight at Memorial Stadium.

“Adam’s more confident, more poised, and he’s taken more of a leadership role in the huddle,” Ochoa said. “I’ve always thought that’s what the quarterback needs to do.”

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For the Jayhawks to get the most out of the Moe, Larry and Curly games, fourth-year coach Mark Mangino will need to be blasted from coast to coast by all the national commentators for running up the score. Ideally, his response would be to run up the score some more the following week.

Mangino might even want to pull a surprise in the film room and pop in a tape of Mercy, starring Kathy Bates. Just make sure to do it in secret or the correctoids will bemoan the insensitivity of such a ploy, as if football has anything whatsoever to do with sensitivity.

“I think the opener is important for us because we have not won an opener in the last three years,” Mangino said, forgetting a 21-3 victory over Tulsa last season.

OK, but a win is the bare minimum. For the Moe, Larry, Curly games, it’s not just how many wins, but winning by how much that counts.

The soft portion of the schedule was necessitated by where the program is on its growth curve and by the relentless Big 12 foes: at Texas Tech, at Kansas State, vs. Oklahoma at Arrowhead Stadium, at Colorado, home games against Missouri and Nebraska, at Texas, a home game against Iowa State.

A 6-5 record is needed to play in a bowl game and the only shot at that lies with a 3-0 non-conference finish.

“We’re not in a position here where we need to bring in three BCS teams and play them,” Mangino said in defense of the sked. “A few years down the road, we’ll bring one in. I don’t feel like we’re going to sit in this position forever. Our program is getting better and better and when we get to a point where we feel comfortable, we’ll schedule another BCS team.”

Slaughtering the Owls tonight at Memorial Stadium would be the only suitable first step toward that end.

Force fumbles, pressure the quarterback into throwing picks, run up the score.