LINCOLN — Three games, Nebraska.

The first is against a rising program that suddenly has fallen. The next is against a fallen program unexpectedly rising. The third is against a team that seemingly falls and rises every other week.

And Nebraska ... well, the Huskers have a few quirks of their own, if you haven’t noticed.

But through it all, the Huskers find themselves in the exact position most expected months ago: in control of their own fate as they begin a three-game slate Saturday that will determine who takes the Big 12 North title and the open spot in December’s conference championship game.

“It’s been a crazy year. It seems like everybody’s had some weird hiccups,” senior center Jacob Hickman said. “It’s fortunate that we’ve had these problems in a year where everybody’s having some issues. But still, (we have) a long road ahead to try to get to where we want to be.”

No one knows what to expect.

The free-falling but skilled Jayhawks could erupt Saturday. A surprising Kansas State team could earn the North title with a win in Lincoln next week. Up-and-down Colorado is rarely hospitable when the Huskers visit for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Any NU loss would add an element of unpredictability to the outcome.

Three Nebraska wins would seal the deal. NU senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh likes that plan.

“We want to go ahead and take care of these three wins left in the season and then move forward,” he said. “If we take care of business the next three weeks, we control our destiny.”

In a lower-pressure situation, the Huskers did close the conference season with three straight wins last year. They beat Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado, ending the 2008 season with momentum after an adversity-filled start.

It was at this point a year ago that players refocused, making it clear that they wanted to erase the past and handle, one-by-one, each upcoming challenge.

The approach worked last season, so naturally, it’s being applied again.

“I think it’s the exact same,” senior safety Matt O’Hanlon said. “We’re in the same position in that we kind of control our destiny. If we win out, we go to the Big 12 championship. So we’re just focusing on the next game.”

Here’s the problem: Last year’s drubbing at Oklahoma served as a natural gut-check. It turned out to be the ideal precursor for reassessment.

This season’s win over the Sooners could have the opposite effect. After Nebraska’s 10-3 slugfest victory a week ago, the scene at Memorial Stadium mostly reflected self-satisfaction, as if the team had finally cleared a mental hurdle.

Suh and Hickman, the soft-spoken leaders of the two NU units, embraced at the 10-yard line. True freshman Eric Martin, lifting his helmet high above his head, sprinted toward the tunnel and waved toward the fans. Junior Roy Helu and several others scaled the north end zone fence to celebrate in the stands.

Even the normally stoic Bo Pelini, with his fists clinched and his arms raised, had his moment of exuberance right before stepping off the turf.

Yet for the Huskers to move on, all that joy had to be replaced with determination, something Pelini said was accomplished the next day.

“What happened last week (against) Oklahoma, we put that behind us right away,” he said. “It’s about executing against a good Kansas team. We know we’re going to get their best shot.”

But it’s a not-so-simple task for teams in the Big 12 North these days, establishing that mental stability needed every week to avoid letdowns.

Kansas, the Huskers’ opponent at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Lawrence, is the team that holds the division’s longest winning streak this year. The Jayhawks won their first five games, but then lost four straight.

Missouri won its first four games, but hasn’t recorded a victory at Faurot Field since Sept. 16. Colorado has three two-game losing streaks this year. Iowa State has losses splattered around its schedule.

And then there’s the unexplainable inconsistency of North leader Kansas State. The Wildcats were clobbered by 52 points at Texas Tech on Oct. 10, but blew out Texas A&M 62-14 a week later.

Forget the proverbial emotional roller coaster. It’s more like the players have strapped their own hearts to the back of a fighter jet as it barrel-rolls, corkscrews, rises and dives without restraint.

Nebraska’s no different. The Huskers dropped a heartbreaker to Virginia Tech, won dramatically at Missouri and suffered two disappointing losses at home. And then they beat Oklahoma for the first time since 2001.

That win over the Sooners and the prior victory at Baylor helped keep Nebraska’s title hopes alive, though NU still has work to do. The Huskers haven’t won five consecutive games in one season since 2003, but they’re striving for such a streak.

Until then, they’ve accomplished nothing, Pelini said.

“If you earn it, it’ll be there at the end,” he said. “You can sit there and get so focused on what the goal is at the end, you lose sight of the process. And that’s what I’ve preached forever. Let’s stay focused on the process that’s going to get us to that title.”

Contact the writer:

402-473-9585, jon.nyatawa@owh.com

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