November 18, 1984

With his team inches from the goal line and the outcome of another football season at stake, the fortunes of the Nebraska Cornhuskers again awaited the decision of Coach Tom Osborne. For the second time in less than 11 months, he made the less secure choice and put his team in a position to preserve a No. 1 ranking. And again, the game and the ranking were lost. With a tie all that was necessary to gain a return to the Orange Bowl, the Cornhuskers chose not to try a short field-goal attempt that might have tied Oklahoma with less than 6 minutes to play. On fourth down from inside the 1, Jeff Smith, the senior I-back, was stopped head-on by Brian Hall, a defensive back, on the climactic play of Oklahoma's 17-7 victory at Memorial Stadium.

The nation's horse population is once again thriving as more people, especially in the heavily populated Northeast and in California, take up riding for recreation. According to the Agriculture Department, there were 8.4 million horses of all breeds galloping about in 1983, up from 6.2 million in 1971 - with much of the growth in recent years.

When they are completed, the brick-and-frame residences under construction on Bedford Road in Pleasantville, N.Y., will look like yet another of the town-house condominium developments that are springing up in just about every corner of Westchester County. But these units will be different.

TOM VOGEL, the manager of Arthur's, a clothing store in Westfarms Mall, was worried. Mr. Vogel said he had anticipated ''droves of applicants'' for jobs this holiday season at the mall in West Hartford. ''But where are they?'' he asked. ''I'm afraid we're going to be strapped. We'll be spreading our people thin and rearranging schedules in order to cover.'' Mr. Vogel is not alone. Managers of retail stores, supermarkets and fast- food restaurants across the statesaid they are having to work harder than ever to fill both permanent and seasonal job openings.

''I ever created by a French or Italian composer,'' said Sherrill Milnes recently. ''Otello also comes to mind, but he was concerned only about his own personal problems. Boccanegra has these, too, but his heart is immense - he goes much farther. I know of no other character who speaks with such love of mankind and who tries harder to do what we are trying to do now - getting people in conflict to live in peace. If he has a fatal weakness, it's his idealism.''