It is possible to have the latest kernel in openSUSE. However, there are a few thing you must consider.

stock kernels

OpenSUSE is installed (from DVD or wherever from) with a kernel called the 'stock' kernel. This kernel remains the same for the whole time that that specific openSUSE version is supported, and is only updated with security issues and occasional bug fixes. This is called backporting. These updated stock-kernels appear in the update channel just as normal updates, so you should install them, just as other updates.

This is a list of the latest openSUSE versions and their stock kernels:

openSUSE version:    stock-kernel
12.1                 3.1.9 upgraded to 3.1.10 for security/bugfixes
11.4                 2.6.37

kernel versions

openSUSE has the option to run other 'flavours' of the kernel. These include:

kernel-default -> The standard kernel for both uniprocessor and multiprocessor systems.
kernel-desktop -> This kernel is optimized for the desktop. It is configured for lower latency and has many of the features that aren't usually used on desktop machines disabled.
kernel-pae -> this is a 32-bit only special kernel with support for 64GB memory. 64 bit kernels support this by default
kernel-vanilla -> The standard kernel - without any SUSE patches
kernel-xen -> The Linux kernel for Xen paravirtualization. This kernel can be used both as the domain0 ("xen0") and as an unprivileged ("xenU") kernel.