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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 11, 1995)
i GO WITH THE NATION’S #1 All Packages Include: i * Round-Trip Flight • 4 Nights Safari Resort • Pre-Game Party • Fiesta Bowl Game Ticket • Complete Ground Transfers RTravel Agents , America’s Vacation Store. International _ _ _ ^Bring in this ad by Dec. 15 and receive $50.00 off this package. p Isn't It Time (or De-Stressing IOI ? f Taka Tims Out from i ^Ns vha Books... } Dash on in and enjoy ^ Boma Delicious Postal Merry Christmas From... i _ 1 1 hours* 1 Mon-Thunt I I em-SsSOpm I I Frl-Sets I I em- I I pm Mum I 2pm-9*SOpm > 228 N. I 2thSt. • 475-0000 Huskers focus on last game By Derek Samson Staff Reporter All season long, Nebraska players have tried to keep from thinking about Jan. ^ 1996. The standard Comhuskers quote each week went something like this: “We’re just taking it one game at a time.” Those days are over. A second | consecutive national championship is on the line when Nebraska faces Florida in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2. “A couple weeks ago, before we played Oklahoma, it was nice to get down to the last game of the season,” tight erid Sheldon Jackson said. “Now, it’s down to thf last game of the year. Other than schoolwork, all our focus is on this game. “It’s not like we play hard this week then come back and try to im prove and play harder the following week. This is it.” And Husker players said they be lieved the game would live up to all its early hype. “Right now, it’s No. 1 versus No. 2, 11-0 versus 12-0. There’s not going to be any questions about who’s No.K” split end Brendan Holbein said. “Ohio State is out of the picture, and now it’s ) coming down to one of the biggest showdowns in history. “It’s Jan. 2 at 7:30, nobody else will be on. Everybody will be watch ing it, and it’s the highlight of every one on that football field’s careers.” Cornerback Michael Booker said ) there was no better way to end the > season. • “It’s nice that your last game of the year is for the national champion ship,” Booker said. “It’s nice for the , season to be coming to a close, espe ■ dally this way.” ) The reason Nebraska made its third ) straight national championship game was because the Huskers do take it one game at a time, Jackson said. Jon Waller/DN All-American outside linebacker Jared Tomich and his teammates agree that Nebraska must pressure Florida quarterback Danny Wuerffel into making mistakes in the Fiesta Bowl. “Everybody will be watching it, and it’s the highlight of everyone on that football field’s careers. ” BRENDAN HOLBEIN NU split end “The team as a whole has been real good about taking it one game at a time,” he said. “I don’t think at any point in the season that we real ly won dered who we were playing (in the bowl game).” Holbein, who caught one pass in last year’s Orange Bowl win, said he was thankful for being in a program that could be in the title game three straight years. * “It’s an honor for me,” he said. “Coming here, you never know if you’re going to be able to play or not. Then when you finally make it, go through everything, and you’re out there playing, you can’t ask for a bet ter situation. “It’s the Big Red — it’s a national championship organization. It’s an honor for the players, the whole insti tution and the state.” But most of all, the players are thankful for Michigan beating Ohio State and setting up a true title game. “It’s one against two and I’m glad they finally got it right,” linebacker Terrell Farley said. But offensive tackle Eric Ander son warned that the Huskers should try to keep the excitement to a mini mum. “We don’t want to get caught up in the national championship and the records we can set,” Anderson said. “We just need to focus on Florida and what they can do.” 1120 ? STREET J'Under theBig M Awning" 475-6182 ; ' Open Monday thru Saturday 10 ■ 6 & Sunday 1 ■ 5 %. FIESTA BOWL GAME DAY T-SHIRTS (6 color print) ’C Thru The B.S.' Shirts Full Front Print Full Back Prim Heavyweight Short Sleeve T-Shirt I S-M-L-XL-X XL * -XXXL * * $6.99 * *XXL $7.99 **XXXL $8.99 (Limit 4 Per Custoiner) 'Defending The Title' Shirts L Choose from 4 other Fiesta Bowl and 3 Five Straight Big 8 designs in t-shirts and sweatshirts for adults and youths. 50% OFF ■/ill 1994 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP : SPORTSWEAR i GIFTS ■■ ■ ■ Exp. 12-30-95 FIESTA BOWL SHIRTS BUY i T-SHIRT OR SWEATSHIRT, GEIl FOR 111 PRICE!!! Exp. 12-30-95 Not Valid on Game Day Shirts I Call 475-6182 to receive a FREE 1996 Nebraska Catalog featuring 1994 - 1995 National Championship products. Green ready for Gators By Trevor Parks__ Senior Reporter Freshman Ahman Green knew the Nebraska football team would be play for another na tional championship this season. In fact, Green’s confi dence in the Comhusker pro gram was a major factor in his decision to play for Ne braska. Now as top-ranked Ne braska prepares to play No. 2 Florida in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, Green’s feelings arc about to become a reality. “I knew coming here I would get the chance to play for a championship,” Green said. “They have a great coaching staff here, and they had a lot of great players that came back, so I just knew that I had a chance to play in a championship game.” The one thing Green didn’t know, however, was that he would be the starting I-back in that game. “It’s really been a surprise and I’m glad it happened,” Green said. “With the unfortunate things that happened at the beginning of the season, I just had to take over where Lawrence (Phillips) left off. I think I did a good job.” He has rushed for 1,086 yards, the most on the team, and the most that any freshman has rushed for in school history. He also has 13 rushing touchdowns, second on the team behind Tommie Frazier’s 14 scores. Green is averaging 7.7 yards a carry and 98.7 yards rushing a game. But there has J>een one time this season that Green said he was bothered. That came before his first start against Missouri. He shook off nerves to rush for 90 yards on 15 carries and one touchdown. As the Fiesta Bowl nears, the attention placed on Green will increase, but for right now he isn’t worried. “I don’t let it jump into my head while people are saying I’m this and I’m that. I really don’t read a lot into that,” Green said. “If I do have something bothering me, I talk to the coaches, or some of the guys on the team, or my mom and dad at home to get some of that nervousness off my back.” Scott Bruhn/DN True freshman l-back Ahman Green . has started six games for Nebraska this season, breaking Calvin Jones’ freshman rushing record with 1,086 yards. To find out what he needed to do in a big game, Green said he had talked to some of the players who returned from last season’s game against Miami. With his success, Green has been recognized as the top offensive freshman in the Big Eight... He earned that award from both the coaches and media. To cap off his season, he will be one of only three Nebraska true freshman to play against Florida for the national title. “It’s a surprise to me that I am at where I’m at, but that’s just due to the fact that I had hard work,” Green said. “Right now it’s paying off for me.”