WATCH: Matt Rhule's last updates before Nebraska-Northwestern
Game day No. 8 for Nebraska football is on the horizon.
Year 3 of the Matt Rhule Era – the most pivotal of his tenure thus far as the Huskers’ head coach – began with a 3-0 mark via wins over Cincinnati, Akron and Houston Christian. Then, a disappointing loss to Michigan gave way to a two-week bounce back as Nebraska rebounded against Michigan State and Maryland.
Last week, though, the two-week run of momentum came to a screeching halt. The Huskers fell flat in a disheartening, pessimism-inducing 24-6 loss on the road at Minnesota – a national spotlight game in which Nebraska was a Top-25 team and a near-touchdown favorite.
Now, the Huskers (5-2 overall, 2-2 Big Ten) must regroup, figure out how to fix some flaws and get the job done against a surprisingly hot Northwestern team. The Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) entered the year with a preseason over/under win total set at just 3.5, per BetMGM. They already eclipsed that mark two weeks ago with a road win over Penn State – which was the straw that broke James Franklin’s back – and the ‘Cats added on to it with last week’s shutout victory over Purdue (19-0).
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As Northwestern seeks to build on a four-game win streak – which began with victories over UCLA and Louisiana-Monroe – it will come into Lincoln to face a Nebraska team looking to regain some of its mojo.
Opening kickoff is set for 11 a.m. Central Time with the game available to watch live on FS1.
Before the Week 9 matchup gets rolling, Nebraska held its last press conference of Game Week inside Hawks Championship Center on Thursday.
Rhule took the podium for his weekly lightning-round session with the media as the Nebraska head man gave his final updates, injury reports and additional thoughts on the matchup with Northwestern.
Watch and listen to Rhule during the press conference via the video below. You can check out video and audio of Rhule’s more in-depth comments from his Monday Game Week press conference HERE.
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>> Rhule Rundown: Plenty of soul searching following Minnesota loss
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>> Thursday Tim-Bits: Latest Nebraska recruiting intel (10/23)