After building a first-half lead of 17-0, the Pokes were beaten 24-23 last week at Texas A&M. Before focusing on Saturday's Nebraska test, OSU dealt with the disappointment of a second straight one-point loss to A&M.

"Our locker room was extremely disappointed. The most I'd seen since I've been here," coach Mike Gundy said. "They were very disappointed in themselves after the game. You can't hang on too long, whether you win or lose."

Said tight end Brandon Petti grew: "Not taking anything from A&M, but we felt like we had the game. Everybody was psyched about coming out and beating them, and then to lose to them again, by one point again, as hard as we played -- it was tough. I felt we deserved to win, but we didn't come out on top."

Another challenge: While Nebraska's defense has a variety of problems, its offense averages 31 points and 439 yards per game. The Huskers are 29th nationally in total offense.

"There's never a weak offensive opponent. That's Big 12 football," OSU defensive coordinator Tim Beckman said. "They do what they do very well. They set up the run and they're throw ing the ball to different receivers. It's going to be another big challenge for us."

When asked to identify players who have shown improvement, Beckman said, "Both defensive ends (Marque Fountain and Nathan Peterson) are playing very good. They're playing confident. They're playing poised. They're being great leaders. Pat (Lavine), Donovan (Woods) and Jeremy (Nethon) -- these last couple of weeks, they have played well."

The Savage pass: During preseason practice, in their planning for the possible use of a trick-play pass, coaches tested the arms of tailbacks Dantrell Savage and Keith Toston.

"We thought Toston would be the guy," running backs coach Curtis Luper said, "but it wasn't even close."

Savage became the designated trick-play passer, and a tailback pass was included in each week's game plan. But it wasn't used until the A&M game, when Savage fired a 29-yard TD pass to Adarius Bowman. Two Aggie defenders were assigned to Bowman, but Savage's pass found its mark in the end zone.

"I wouldn't have advised that pass," offensive coordinator Larry Fedora said. "When (Savage) threw it, I was like, 'Oh, wow.' I didn't think it was going to end up good . . ."