LINCOLN — Coach Rickey Bustle is convinced Louisiana-Lafayette will hardly notice what's going on around it Saturday.

Sure, the Ragin' Cajuns will recognize that Nebraska is wearing different uniforms than the ones they saw on film. The rest that is involved with the Huskers' 300th consecutive home sellout doesn't concern them.

“We won't treat it any other way,'' Bustle said. “We don't get caught up in the hoopla, because it always seems like there's something that can pull you away.

“We told them the other day about some of the things going on, but it's not the first time we've been a homecoming game.''

Louisiana-Lafayette should know from playing in recent seasons at places such as Tennessee, Texas A&M, South Carolina and Texas. Last Saturday, the Ragin' Cajuns lost 31-3 before 92,443 at Louisiana State.

“We're just so used to it,'' Bustle said. “These schools that we play, we're playing them on the road. We don't talk about Nebraska. We don't talk about LSU. We just talk about this is our next opponent.''

Louisiana-Lafayette brings a 2-1 record to Lincoln that includes a 17-15 home win over Kansas State. Bustle said the ULL strength is its defense, which ranked No. 105 overall last season but returned 10 starters.

The Ragin' Cajuns limited LSU to 330 yards and allowed K-State to convert just 3 of 16 third downs.

Bustle said NU I-back Roy Helu “runs extremely hard'' and quarterback Zac Lee moves well, throws well on the run and doesn't stare down receivers.

Quarterback Chris Masson leads a balanced offense for the Ragin' Cajuns, and the sophomore will be involved with both run and pass elements. His challenge will be moving ULL against a Husker defense that allowed just 278 yards against Virginia Tech, and 151 if you take out plays of 81 and 46 yards.

“I see a good defense,'' Masson said. “I see a very athletic defense. Very sound in everything they do. And I think it's going to be a good challenge for us.''

Both Bustle and Masson said it starts up front with NU.

“Them ol' boys on defense, they grab you and throw you around and get to the quarterback,'' Bustle said.

Bustle knows a little about quarterbacks. Before coming to Louisiana-Lafayette in 2002, he was offensive coordinator at Virginia Tech and helped develop future NFL signal-callers Michael Vick and Jim Druckenmiller.

Masson said Bustle doesn't talk much about his Virginia Tech days, but Masson knows about the players he's groomed at a high level.

“You've always got to have your ears wide open when he talks, because he has so much knowledge of the game,'' Masson said. “And he's only trying to get you better when he talks to you. So definitely having somebody like Coach Bustle around is always great.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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