LINCOLN — Conduct a random midweek poll of Nebraska football players and it would reveal that head coach Bo Pelini has their attention way more than Missouri does right now.

There might even be a loose moratorium on discussing the Tigers.

“I mean, I really don't want to talk about Missouri, man,'' NU receiver Chris Brooks said. “If you ask me next week, I might tell you something.''

Brooks happens to be from St. Louis. As does Husker tight end Mike McNeill.

Still, they can wait.

“No comments on Missouri,'' McNeill said. “I'm holding my mouth shut.

“I'm not really going to talk about them right now. We don't have a game this week. We just need to practice and get better. We'll wait until game week to start talking about the opponent.''

“The opponent'' is the two-time defending champion in the Big 12 North, but Nebraska-Missouri is still a week away. The majority of the focus and installation for the Tigers won't start for a few more days.

“We haven't really looked into it just yet, just because we're trying to take care of ourselves and get our bodies right and really get into our own technique,'' defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. “On Saturday, we'll get into our game-week preparations.''

Pelini said Nebraska had a “good crisp practice'' over two hours at the Hawks Center on Wednesday. Suh said Monday also was a good workout. The Huskers took Tuesday off.

As for Missouri, Pelini said: “We'll get to it in time.''

NU could have approached the bye week with mixed emotions after pounding Louisiana-Lafayette 55-0 on Saturday night. It might have been good to ride the momentum that seemed to be building and go straight to another game, but the bye also offered a chance to rest some legs and heal some injuries from the nonconference schedule.

What NU can't afford is to let an off week become a down week.

“We know what lies ahead of us, and we don't want to get complacent and we don't want to take a step back,'' Brooks said. “We always want to continue to push forward and continue to get better each and every day. And I think we've done a good job of that this week.

“This staff is a good staff. When we need to crank it up, we'll crank it up. And when we need to pull back, we'll pull it back. Coach Pelini is a great believer in that, and he has our back and we have his on that aspect.''

Brooks said making the most of this week — and not yet fueling any of the Missouri hype — is understood by upperclassmen and underclassmen alike. Tight end Kyler Reed could vouch for the latter.

“I think that's just expected with Coach Bo at the helm,'' said the redshirt freshman from Shawnee, Kan. “The way we're looking at it is it's a couple extra days to get good work in. We're trying to get our feet back under ourselves a little bit, but we got a good team in Missouri so there's no time to sit around.''

Reed dropped one of the few references Wednesday to the Tigers. You know Missouri, the team that has drubbed the Huskers each of the past two seasons and has won four of the last six in a series previously owned by Nebraska.

So what does somebody like quarterback Zac Lee expect at Faurot Field in the 8 p.m. game to be televised by ESPN on Oct. 8?

“That's a week-and-a-half away, so we're going to worry about that when next week rolls around,'' Lee said. “This week we're just worried about us.''

Actually, Zac, it's only seven days away now.

“It's a little while,'' he said, smiling. “We'll get there.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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