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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