Following Saturday’s 26-17 triumph over Cal State-Fullerton, a group of reporters gathered in the post-game conference room of Huskie Stadium to listen to the words of an elated Jerry Pettibone.

The fifth-year Huskie commander spoke fluently, answering various questions from the aggressive reporters eager to return to their lap-top computers and file their stories. The questions ranged from quarterback Stacey Robinson’s performance to a pass interception by defensive lineman Ted Hennings.

But then the inevitable presented itself.

“Jerry, what about next week?”

That was it. The question that had been pushed aside for so long had to be answered. There was no reason to focus on the home opener anymore.

And in his gentle but forceful tone, Pettibone gave his insight into this weekend’s game against Nebraska.

“Well, I guess we can finally talk about Nebraska,” he said. “We’ve had a big goal around here since last spring not to look through Cal State-Fullerton. But now that’s the game we have to play.”

As much as I hate to say it, the game is not a matter of winning or losing. It’s how badly NIU will lose. Don’t think of me as some bad guy. I’d love for the Huskies to pull off the upset of the century, but the realist in me prevents such optimistic thoughts.

“This is a great challenge for our players,” Pettibone claims. “I’m really excited about taking the team to Lincoln, Nebraska. I know that these guys will go there and lay it on the line. I don’t know what will happen, but I know what we’ll do—we’ll work hard all week. We will prepare and we’re going to play a great team.”

There’s more to NIU playing Nebraska than the unrealistic thought of winning. This is a chance for NIU to spread its name in different lands, and earn a pretty handsome paycheck for taking the field against a team ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Let us trivia buffs not forget the impressive fact that the Cornhuskers have filled Memorial Stadium to capacity 160 games in a row. Now that’s what I call football fanaticism.

Getting a cut of that booty looks pretty good in the books. Besides that, a crowd in excess of 70,000 boosts NIU’s all-around attendance figure, which helps the Huskies maintain their Division I-A status.

However, let us imagine for a moment the thought of the fleet-footed Robinson scrambling from a ‘Husker defender and hitting a wide-open Mark Clancy to clinch the win.

“We’ve played great teams before,” Pettibone said. “And we’re not too bad ourselves.”

NIU is indeed a good team—exciting and experienced. But get them past this weekend in one piece and bring on Kansas State.