For many reasons, Missouri senior tight end Martin Rucker says the Nebraska game is very special to him. Not only because the Tigers-Huskers matchup could go a long way toward deciding the Big 12 North, but also because Rucker's older brother, Mike, played defensive end for NU.

"For me, it's always a big game," Martin Rucker said. "I love to play that game and last year was the first game that my brother actually got to see me play in college, so there's always a lot of emotion running through me whenever I play that game.
"I just try to convey that to my team so they feel the exact same way."

Although Martin didn't follow in his brother's footsteps and go to Nebraska, he said the influence of the Cornhusker program was very large in his household.

"I was around guys like Ahman Green and Grant Wistrom was at the house now and then, and guys like Jay Foreman and Tommie Frazier," Rucker said. "I saw all these stars and could think that that's what I wanted to be. That was probably one of the greatest influences on me."

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