LINCOLN — The sights and sounds of game day came rushing back to Trev Alberts.

Had it really been six years since the former Nebraska All-American linebacker attended a Husker football game? The school’s new athletic director thought about it and, yes, the last time he was at Memorial Stadium on a fall Saturday was for a Hall of Fame event for Wisconsin in 2015. Before that it was UCLA in 2013.

The occasion was big enough that Alberts’ son, who is in the army, flew in from Fort Stewart in Georgia.

“It’s just the fans, the enormity of the fans, the feel, the energy, the crowd,” Alberts said. “The people are what always make the difference. You get some goosebumps and then the music.”

Alberts didn’t get to see NU’s guests for its first run through of the “Red Carpet Experience” — he was speaking at a chancellor’s tailgate — but said demand was big enough that the pregame event moved to the adjacent Cook Pavilion. Senior associate athletic director Lawrence Chatters led the entire group to the stadium after lunch after coming up with the initial idea last week to connect underserved youth and their guardians to unused tickets purchased by donors.

“(Demand) ended up being bigger than what we anticipated, which was part of the challenge but was awesome,” Alberts said. “We had 2,400 tickets. We thought most of it would have to be regionalized or local in terms of getting them here.”

The first adjustment for the future, Alberts said, might be lining up transportation for the kids to get to the stadium.

“It was a unique challenge for them but I think by and large it went well,” Alberts said. “I’m sure next Tuesday in our staff (meeting) we’ll be analyzing it.”