Nebraska Football Notebook

Practice report

LINCOLN -- Just one practice separates the Nebraska Cornhuskers from their 2008 season opener against Western Michigan after the Huskers worked out for approximately 90 minutes in half pads in Memorial Stadium Thursday.

"We had a good practice today, more mental obviously than physical," Pelini said. "We cut it down. There was great attention to detail. I liked what I saw from the guys. They're zeroed in and they're getting ready to go."

While the players may be eager Saturday for the 6 p.m. kickoff to arrive, Pelini said it won't be difficult for him to maintain his focus.

"I've been doing that for a long time," Pelini said. "We played almost all night games at LSU. I have a lot of experience with that."

Senior offensive tackle Lydon Murtha was held out of Thursday's practice, but Pelini said he would have been able to play.

"I would anticipate he's going to play," Pelini said." We feel good about where he's at right now."

Lucky honored

Senior running back Marlon Lucky is one of 43 running backs who have been named as candidates for the 2008 Doak Walker Award. The award is presented annually to the nation's top college running back.

Lucky is the Big 12's leading returning rusher after gaining 1,019 yards in 2007. He also set a Nebraska season record with 75 catches for 705 yards and his all-purpose yardage total was the best by a Husker in 10 years. The North Hollywood, Calif., product is one of four Big 12 running backs on the chart, joining Mike Goodson and Jorvorskie Lane of Texas A&M and DeMarco Murray of Oklahoma.

Lucky was previously named to watch lists for the Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. He was also a first-team preseason All-Big 12 choice by the league's coaches.

Pay-per-view update

Saturday's Nebraska-Western Michigan game will be telecast via pay-per-view on participating cable and satellite providers with coverage starting at 6 p.m. Additional details will be posted on Huskers.com, WMUBroncos.com and FoxSports.com as they become available.

Fans can check DirecTV on Friday or Saturday to order, as DirecTV is carrying the game on a national basis on channel 786. Fox Sports has contacted DirecTV in an attempt to make sure all DirecTV customer service representatives are aware that the game will definitely be offered, while encouraging DirecTV to begin accepting orders as soon as possible.

DISH Network provider information was announced on Thursday afternoon, but it is possible that not all DISH Network customer service representatives have been informed. The game will be available nationally on Channel 464 and DISH Network subscribers can order on screen now.

Suggested retail price for residential purchase is $29.95.

Husker Nation Pavilion

The Husker Nation Pavilion will open at 3 p.m. Saturday -- three hours before NU's 6 p.m. kickoff against Western Michigan.

A new feature at the Pavilion this year will be the Nebraska football team's Unity Walk, which will begin approximately 2 1/2 hours before kickoff. The Unity Walk will begin on the East side of Memorial Stadium near the Husker Legacy statue. Fans are encouraged to cheer the Huskers along their walking path to Memorial Stadium, which will run past the Pavilion along the North side of Memorial Stadium. The Huskers will enter the stadium at Gate 11 on the Northwest corner of the stadium.

The Husker Nation Pavilion will feature live music from The Slangs on the Husker Auto Group Main Stage.

Stick to the script

Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson confirmed that the Huskers will again script at least some of the offensive play calls to start the game.

"We'll script a few," Watson said. "I don't know how many it will end up, but we always do that and it's just part of the mix and the touches and how we want to organize our offense."

Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz said the Huskers typically script their first 15 plays, but joked that the number could grow.

"The first 15 is what we usually call it, but Wats gets really excited, so he might make it 22," Ganz said. "It just depends. He likes a lot of plays this week, he's been fired up since last Thursday, so I wouldn't be surprised if we had the first 30."

Slow recruiting weekend

Nebraska coach Bo Pelini said having the first five games of the season played at Memorial Stadium is a great advantage for the Huskers both on the field and in the recruiting department in terms of having opportunities for official visits. However, Pelini said he doesn't expect many players to take official visits during this Saturday's game against Western Michigan because of conflicts for several high school players.

"There are a lot of high school teams and coaches who are just starting to come off of the summer and a lot of these guys have taken unofficial trips and have been traveling around and their coaches really want them to concentrate on what they have," Pelini said. "So every kid you're recruiting is kind of in a different situation as far as that's concerned. From our standpoint, we have to give due respect to what they're doing at their high school and what we're asking them to do."



--Staff and wire reports