By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com
For the first time in program history, Nebraska embarks on a nine-game conference football season when the No. 20 Huskers (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten Conference) play Saturday at Northwestern (1-2, 0-0).
New for Nebraska, not new for Mike Riley.
The second-year Husker coach is familiar with nine-game conference schedules, having maneuvered them in his 14 seasons as coach at Oregon State.
“Before it became the Pac-12, I thought it was perfect,” Riley said Monday at his weekly news conference. “There were 10 teams and you played all of the teams every year.