LINCOLN — Idaho football coach Robb Akey said he hopes a few Nebraska defenders on Saturday remember that Nathan Enderle is almost as much friend as foe — or, at least, that he's a Nebraskan.

Enderle, the senior four-year starting quarterback from North Platte who helped orchestrate an impressive turnaround at Idaho last season, will lead the Vandals into Memorial Stadium for an 11:30 a.m. kickoff.

“I hope he'll have enough buddies on the team that they won't want to beat him up too bad,” Akey said.

Yeah, good luck with that. Nebraska's Jared Crick, the preseason All-America defensive lineman from Cozad, Neb., chuckled at the suggestion.

“Never,” Crick said. “You can be from Cozad, and I'm still coming after you. It's great, having a guy from Nebraska do well at another school. No mercy, though.”

Crick, who made six tackles Saturday in the season-opening win and added a second-quarter flattening of Western Kentucky QB Kawaun Jakes, said he's impressed with Enderle.

Enderle, 6-foot-5 and 233 pounds, ranks among Idaho's all-time leaders in completions and passing yardage. He led the Vandals to an 8-5 finish a year ago and a last-second win in the Humanitarian Bowl over Bowling Green. Idaho drove 66 yards in three plays in the final minute for a touchdown, then won it 43-42 with a two-point conversion.

It came on the heels of two seasons in which Idaho finished 3-20.

“We're not overlooking him, by any means,” Crick said.

Enderle, asked this week how many people from North Platte he expects in the stadium, responded with a question of his own.

“I don't know. What's the population of the town now?” he said. “There's probably going to be a bunch.”

His return is creating quite a buzz back home, said second-year North Platte football coach Bernie Madison.

In fact, the search for NU-Idaho tickets has turned frantic.

“Good luck,” Madison said, “because everybody from North Platte is trying to get down there.”

Akey also suggested that some NU fans might want to see Enderle play well. That sounds more realistic.

“I hope so,” the quarterback said. “I had a couple buddies who said they were torn between who they wanted to root for. I told them they could just root for me to be successful, and then they could root for the Huskers.

“My family is going to root for me — I hope, but I'm sure there will be a few who are still wearing red.”

Enderle said he told his teammates that Nebraska fans are generally polite to visitors.

“I hope they don't make me a liar,” he said.

Enderle attended camp at NU before his senior year of high school in 2005 and came to Lincoln for an unofficial recruiting visit that fall. But the Huskers accepted an early commitment from quarterback Josh Freeman, and interest faded in Enderle as a scholarship recruit.

When Freeman bolted for Kansas State a few weeks before signing day, it was too late. Enderle had already graduated from North Platte and was ready to start school in Moscow, Idaho, in January 2006.

Still, the Huskers called to inquire.

“To be honest,” Enderle said, “I wanted to play for a team where I was their first choice. It was a really good situation for me up here.”

Things got tough in a hurry, though. Coach Nick Holt, who recruited Enderle, lost his job after the 2005 season. Enderle redshirted under coach Dennis Erickson in 2006, then earned the starting job as a redshirt freshman in 2007 under Akey, the Vandals' third coach in three seasons.

“That's really tough on a team,” Enderle said.

But Enderle survived it and thrived last season. His pass efficiency rating of 157.28 placed him fifth nationally. He said he's long looked forward to this game, scheduled in 2007 during Idaho's darkest days.

“I know there's an excitement,” Akey said. “Any time you go back home, I don't care where home is, there's an excitement about that and a great desire to do well. He's fired up about this game. At the same time, he's taking a very mature approach to it.”

Contact the writer:

402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com

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