Huskers move past Big 12 loss, focused on UW

By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Monday, December 13, 2010 7:57 pmThe season's primary goal was gone, but the sun apparently didn't know the difference, rising as it always does that Sunday morning.With the world still spinning and the season not over, Husker football coach Bo Pelini gathered his players for a meeting Dec. 5.The previous night's 23-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game stung, but sophomore safety P.J. Smith remembers the coach's message was easy to understand.Bury the defeat. Move on.Sulking stands in the way of progress after all."I think the next day when we had that meeting, we just had to let it go then and there," Smith said.And for the most part, the Huskers have moved on.Oh, sure, you don't just erase a loss like that from your memory. A little of the hurt remained evident even after Monday's practice."We've been (to the conference championship) two years and didn't get it done, so, I mean, it's still dwelling a little bit," said junior wide receiver Brandon Kinnie.So getting 11 wins for the first time since 2001 is the goal. And as the Huskers see it, looking back won't do them any favors in making that happen.Pelini certainly wasn't about to look back to last week, when it was reported the University of Miami was pursuing him for the school's head coaching job. (Miami filled the vacancy Sunday with the hiring of Temple coach Al Golden.)After a couple days of speculation about Pelini and the Hurricanes, the Husker coach quashed the talk by issuing a statement last Friday saying he wasn't preparing for any interview with Miami.Asked about that situation after Monday's practice, Pelini said:Pelini said he never addressed the Miami speculation with his team becauseThe speculation might have caused some fans to lose a few winks, but Husker defensive line coach John Papuchis said it was pretty much last week in the NU camp, with coaches focusing on bowl preparation and recruiting.Kinnie said players weren't real worried about any of the Pelini-Miami talk."Coach always keeps us on our toes about different things and tells us not to listen to too much of that stuff," Kinnie said.Better to aim the attention at Washington, the Holiday Bowl foe Nebraska already played earlier this season. The Huskers won that game 56-21 and UW comes into the bowl having lost as many games as it's won this season.But Pelini said there's no disappointment in the rematch or a second straight trip to San Diego for a bowl game."We're looking forward to playing the football game," Pelini said.And as for any outside chatter suggesting it could be tough for the Huskers to be motivated for this matchup?"I don't care what people say," Pelini said.The rematch may not excite everyone, but Kinnie said players should be ready and excited about one more chance to play this season."It doesn't matter who we're playing. I could care less that we played them already," Kinnie said.^(Washington) switched up and everything. So it's going to be a challenge to me."Husker sophomore quarterback Cody Green said Washington is a and Nebraska will need to take a tough-minded mentality into the game.Defeating a team twice in a season is rarely easy."We did it once. Now don't go out there and think it's going to be easy," Green said.And going back to San Diego isn't exactly the worst chore, either.When Green was asked how the players felt about a return trip, he responded with his own question."Have you seen outside?"Yes, indeed. It surely wasn't 10 degrees in San Diego on Monday.

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