Killing X server using ctrl-alt-bksp screws up eth0???

If I kill my X server using ctrl-alt-bksp, my eth0 device disappears. It still
shows up in /proc but if I do an ifconfig eth0 up, it says the device doesn't
exist. I think something is happening to the driver (I think it is using tulip)
but since I have (perhaps stupidly?) compiled the driver into the kernel, I
can't just rmmod/insmod to fix it, so I end up rebooting. Any ideas on how to
track down this problem? I hate treating my RH box as if it were an MS box!

Btw I know ctrl-alt-bksp is not the preferred way to get out of X, but I have
been experimenting with some window managers/configurations and sometimes I have
left myself with no other way out. :)

Lisa