LINCOLN -- No time for intros today. Here are the picks:

Dale Miller, staff writer: Nebraska 24, Virginia Tech 20
Kevin Schuster, sports writer: Nebraska 17, Virginia Tech 13
Brian Ayers, sports writer: Nebraska 29, Virginia Tech 16
Bob Gonderinger, sports writer: Nebraska 31, Virginia Tech 21
Terry Douglass, sports editor: Nebraska 20, Virginia Tech 17

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The Nebraska football team steps back onto a national stage Saturday night against Virginia Tech. Well, it's at least a semi-national stage as ABC's split national telecast will send the Penn State-Illinois game to most of the country.

Still, this marks a chance for the Cornhuskers to show just how much progress they've made under first-year head coach Bo Pelini and his staff. On Thursday, SI.com's Stewart Mandel asks: "When will Nebraska regain its national relevance?"

Clearly, this is a big game for Nebraska, but not just because its the first true test for the Huskers or the fact that Pelini's team could scratch and claw its way into the top 25. It's huge from a confidence standpoint as NU a desperately needs a victory over the Hokies to gain as much momentum as possible as top-10 foes Missouri and Texas Tech await.

A loss Saturday night and Nebraska could easily be looking at a three-game losing skid that would drop it back to .500. After last season's confidence-shattering campaign, that could serve as a major setback.

Then again, it might be all about how the Huskers play. Even if it would go 0-3 or 1-2 in the upcoming three-game stretch, but remained competitive, that could be something this team could build on. Certainly, there's no shame in not beating a top-10 team (not many do), but performances like last year's losses to Missouri and Oklahoma State aren't going to be viewed kindly, even in a year of transition.

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In another installment of his player diary for The Sporting News Today, Nebraska’s Todd Peterson said Saturday night’s game against Virginia Tech will be serve as a good measuring stick for the Cornhuskers.

“We haven’t played our best yet,” wrote Peterson, a senior wide receiver from Grand Island. “We still have a lot to improve, and it’s going to be important that we improve heading into this stretch.”

After Virginia Tech, Nebraska (3-0) faces No. 6-ranked Missouri at home and No. 10 Texas Tech on the road.

Peterson also wrote that playing the Hokies gives the Huskers an opportunity to prove that Nebraska “can be in the upper-echelon again.”

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In a column for Sporting News Today, college football writer Matt Hayes debates (with himself) whether or not three fallen powers are headed back to their glory days of past, noting that Nebraska, Notre Dame and Florida State will all get their first true tests of the season in their next game.

Notre Dame plays at Michigan State Saturday, while Florida State hosts No. 18 Wake Forest. Nebraska's test comes Sept. 27 when the Cornhuskers host Virginia Tech.

Of Nebraska, Hayes wrote: "Nebraska (3-0), which in four years under Bill Callahan looked more like a bad NFL team than the Big Red 18-wheeler we've come to love, is off this week before playing host to Virginia Tech in first-year coach Bo Pelini's first big test."

Hayes' case for Nebraska being legit? "For the first time in four years, this team is playing with passion -- and more importantly, playing smart and aggressive on defense.

His case for the Huskers possibly being a fraud? "Who on this offense scares you?"

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LINCOLN -- ABC Sports and the Big 12 Conference announced on Monday that Nebraska’s Sept. 27 home game against Virginia Tech will be televised by ABC with the telecast set for 7 p.m. The game will be carried as part of ABC’s Saturday Night football package.

The game will be carried on a split-national basis along with the Illinois-Penn State game. The ABC coverage map for the Nebraska-Virginia Tech game will be available next week and announcers for the contest will also be determined at that time.

The matchup with Virginia Tech will be the Huskers’ first appearance of the season on ABC. Entering the 2008 season, Nebraska has played on ABC at least three times in each of the past 15 seasons, and this also marks the 16th straight year the Huskers have had a non-conference game televised by ABC.

Nebraska is also set to appear on ABC against Colorado in the regular-season finale, and any additional games on the network will be announced six to 12 days in advance of game day.

The Nebraska-Virginia Tech will mark Nebraska’s third home night game of the 2008 season. The Huskers have defeated Western Michigan and New Mexico State in night contests at Memorial Stadium this season. Overall, Nebraska has a 26-3 all-time record in home night games.

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LINCOLN -- It could be a late night at Memorial Stadium as New Mexico State coach Hal Mumme and his pass-happy attack will almost certainly be chucking it all over the place with quarterack Chase Holbrook.

The biggest questions for Nebraska are will the Huskers be able to finally get their running game going against the Aggies and how will the defense handle what is expected to be the best version of the spread offense it has faced to far this year.

Coach Bo Pelini and his squad would obviously like a sharp performance that would allow them to take some momentum into the bye week. Is this the week the Huskers play as well as they've practiced?

Predictions:

Terry Douglass, sports editor: Nebraska 56, New Mexico State 20
Dale Miller, staff writer: Nebraska 35, New Mexico State 14
Brian Ayers, sports writer: Nebraska 51, New Mexico State 21
Tony Boone, sports writer: Nebraska 34, New Mexico State 20
Bob Gonderinger, sports writer: Nebraska 42, New Mexico State 35

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LINCOLN -- We're getting ready to kick things off for game two of the 2008 season as Nebraska hosts 26 1/2-point underdog San Jose State at Memorial Stadium.

The Cornhuskers will be looking to cut down on their defensive mistakes and pump up the running game after having a few problems in both areas in last week's 47-24 victory over Western Michigan. This week affords Nebraska's defense an opportunity to test itself against a spread offense -- something that defensive coordinator Carl Pelini's unit will be seeing a lot of in the near future.

The picks:

Terry Douglass, sports editor: Nebraska 44, San Jose State 20

Bob Hamar, assistant sports editor: Nebraska 48, San Jose State 21

Brian Ayers, sports writer: Nebraska 35, San Jose State 0

Tony Boone, sports writer: Nebraska 51, San Jose State 13

Tony Chapman, sports writer: Nebraska 52, San Jose State 10

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