Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska football team began to wrap up preparations for this week’s game on Thursday afternoon, practicing in helmets and sweats in the Hawks Championships Center. The team worked out for just over 90 minutes as they continued to gear up for this weekend’s Big Ten Legends Division matchup against Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.

Following practice, Head Coach Bo Pelini met with the media and discussed what kind of mental advantage a bye-week gives to young players trying to make a jump.

“I think (it helps) with everybody,” Pelini said. “The more reps you get at it, the more understanding you get, the more comfortable you get and the more confident you get. That translates to playing better football. I keep telling our guys, the more time you put into it on the field, off the field, spending time thinking about it, going over your notes and the details, it’s going to allow you to have greater success.”

When asked if the team was in a similar mentality coming off the bye week as they were coming out of fall camp, Pelini said the players are ready to roll.

“There’s a lot of things that go into the situation we’re in,” Pelini said. “The motivations are what they are. They may be a little different for each guy, but we know what we have to do.”

Pelini also stated that senior running back Rex Burkhead will be available against the Wildcats this weekend.

“Rex is ready to go,” Pelini said. “He’s about as 100 percent as he’s going to get. He’s feeling good and ready to roll.”

Overall, Pelini said he feels good about what the team was able to achieve this week and stated the team is ready to play.

“I thought it was a good week of practice,” Pelini said. “We’ve still got some things to clean up, but I thought overall it was a good week. We’re ready to go and looking forward to the game.”

Nebraska will conduct a final walkthrough practice tomorrow before traveling to Illinois to face Northwestern. Saturday’s matchup between the Huskers and the Wildcats is slated for a 2:30 p.m. CDT kickoff and will be broadcast regionally on ABC and ESPN2.