The Matchup

Nebraska returns to Memorial Stadium for a Saturday night matchup with Kansas State, with the Big 12 North Division title on the line. It will also be Senior Night in Lincoln as 13 Cornhusker seniors will play before the home crowd for the final time. Game time for the contest is 6:45 p.m., with the contest nationally televised on ESPN. You can also catch the game on the Rural Radio Network stations KRVN, KNEB and KTIC.

The Huskers enter the game as winners of three straight contests, most recently a 31-17 win at Kansas last Saturday. The victory improved Nebraska to 7-3 overall on the season, and 4-2 in Big 12 Conference action.

Kansas State is just a half-game behind Nebraska in the North Division standings at 4-3 in Big 12 play and the Wildcats are 6-4 overall on the year. Saturday night’s game is the regular-season finale for the Wildcats, who not only will be playing for a Big 12 North crown, but also bowl eligibility.

The winner of Saturday’s game will pick up its fifth conference victory. Each of the other North Division teams have at least four conference losses, meaning Saturday’s victor will head to the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington, Texas on Dec. 5. Texas can clinch the South Division crown with a win over Kansas on Saturday in Austin.

The Series

Nebraska has a commanding 76-15-2 all-time edge in the series between the two schools. The Cornhuskers have a 41-8 advantage in Lincoln, including wins in 19 of the past 20 meetings at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska has won four straight overall in the series after K-State won five of seven meetings between 1998 and 2004.

The Coaches

Nebraska: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, ‘90) owns a 17-7 record in his second season with the Huskers. Pelini guided Nebraska to nine wins in his first season as head coach, joining Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich as the only Nebraska coaches to win nine games in their first season leading the Cornhuskers. Prior to taking over as the Huskers’ head coach, Pelini served as defensive coordinator at NU, Oklahoma and LSU. Previously, he had stints as an NFL assistant with San Francisco, New England and Green Bay.

Kansas State: Bill Snyder (William Jewell, ‘63) is in the first season of his second stint as Kansas State’s head coach and his 18th year overall as the Wildcats coach. He has a 142-73-1 record with KSU, including a 5-12 mark against Nebraska. Snyder retired following the 2005 season, but returned to KSU for the 2009 season.

Senior Night at Memorial Stadium

Nebraska will honor its senior class before the start of Saturday night’s contest at Memorial Stadium. The 2009 group of 13 seniors is the smallest in recent memory for Nebraska. Despite the small numbers, this class is a veteran group, including...

· The 2009 senior class includes eight players in their fifth year in the program (Brooks, Cammack, Dillard, Harvey, Hickman, O’Hanlon, Suh, Turner) and one player in his sixth year with the Cornhuskers (Christensen).

· Four members of the senior class were originally walkon players who have earned scholarships, including Cammack, Koehler, Meyer and O’Hanlon.

· The senior class has combined for 176 career starts entering Saturday’s game, led by three-year starters Ndamukong Suh (34), Jacob Hickman (33) and Larry Asante (32).

· The 13 seniors come from eight states, including five homegrown Huskers, two players from California and one each from Virginia, Missouri, Oklahoma, Maryland, Oregon and Tennessee.

· Nebraska will also honor junior Blake Lawrence who made the decision to give up football earlier this fall after a series of concussions. Lawrence will pick up his degree this December, graduating in just 2 1/2 years.

· Senior safety Rickey Thenarse is hopeful of receiving a medical redshirt and returning for the 2010 season, and will not be announced on Senior Night. Thenarse was lost for the season with a knee injury in the first quarter of Nebraska’s Sept. 26 contest against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Divisional Crown on the Line

The topsy-turvy 2009 Big 12 North Division race has crystalized. The winner of the Nebraska-Kansas State tilt in Lincoln will head to Arlington, Texas on Dec. 5 for the Dr. Pepper Big 12 Championship Game. The winner of the game will pick up its fifth Big 12 win, and each of the other four North teams has already suffered four or more losses.

· A Nebraska win would give the Huskers their fifth appearance in the league title game in the first 14 seasons of the league. Nebraska represented the North in the game in 1996, 1997, 1999 and 2006. The five Big 12 title game appearances would likely be tied with Texas, which will clinch their fifth Big 12 Championship Game appearance with one win in its final two games. Only Oklahoma (7) has played in more Big 12 title games.

· In addition to its appearances in the conference title game, Nebraska has also tied for the North Division crown in 2001 and 2008. · Kansas State would make its fourth Big 12 Championship Game appearance with a win, tying Nebraska and Colorado for the most appearances among North Division schools.