Nebraska
Can USC Trojans Stay Undefeated? Michigan, Penn State, Nebraska, Tough Schedule Looms
After the No. 11 USC Trojans return from their bye week, the team plays seven straight weeks of football games before the second bye. A gauntlet for any program, the next seven games for USC will also be the first time the Trojans clash with their new Big Ten opponents.
Can USC Trojans coach Lincoln Riley and his team navigate the rest of the season and remain unscathed?
As of Sept. 16, the Trojans are scheduled to face four ranked opponents for the rest of the season. USC will face No. 10 Penn State, No. 17 Notre Dame, No. 18 Michigan, and No. 22 Nebraska.
The first ranked matchup is on Saturday, Sept. 21, as USC travels to Ann Arbor to face No. 18 Michigan. Although defending national champions, the 2024 Wolverines have struggled at the start of the season. The Wolverines have an ugly loss to No. 1 Texas, and they beat Arkansas State by 10 points.
Should USC leave the Big House with a win, they could set themselves up for an undefeated showdown with No. 10 Penn State on Oct. 12. In between the Michigan and Penn State games, the Trojans are scheduled to face the Wisconsin Badgers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Both Wisconsin and Minnesota are having down years compared to expectations. Minnesota lost 19-17 to North Carolina in week zero, and Wisconsin recently lost to Alabama 42-10 at home. Should the Trojans get past both of those teams, Riley and his team might have a top-10 matchup on their hands.
On paper, the toughest game of the Trojans season will be when the Nittany Lions travel to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. According to the AP Poll, this midseason matchup figures to be the toughest game on USC’s season.
After playing Penn State, USC will fly across the country to face Maryland on Oct. 19. The stretch of seven games will end on a Friday night against Rutgers followed by a road trip to Washington. On Nov. 9, the Trojans will have reached the second bye week of the season.
Should this Trojans team win its first nine games, its resume will feature wins over LSU, Michigan, and Penn State. In the first two games of the season, USC Trojans quarterback Miller Moss has impressed, and defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn has already improved the defense in his short time with the team.
Already a strong collection of wins, USC has the chance to add another against a surging Nebraska on Nov. 16.
After an impressive 3-0 start under quarterback Dylan Raiola, the Nebraska Cornhuskers have climbed into the AP poll at No. 22. If the Trojans and the Cornhuskers continue to win, the game will assuredly be one of the marquee matchups across the country.
Both Nebraska and Penn State travel to Los Angeles to play the Trojans, giving USC a legitimate chance to host College GameDay. In the final home game at the Coliseum, USC will host the Fighting Irish, currently ranked No. 17 in the week four AP Poll.
A difficult opponent after playing a grueling schedule, Notre Dame has already suffered an upset at home to No. 23 Northern Illinois.
While certainly difficult, this Trojans team has the potential to rack up some impressive wins should they survive the season. However, teams can afford to lose a game and still have a path to the postseason in the expanded playoff system.
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MORE: Ranking Best Big Ten Quarterbacks Through Week 3: Is USC Trojans’ Miller Moss No. 1?
MORE: USC Trojans vs. Michigan Wolverines Official Kickoff Time and TV Broadcast Schedule
Nebraska
Nebraska Football Offers In-State Legacy Offensive Lineman
New Husker offensive line coach Geep Wade has stayed busy in his first few weeks on the recruiting trail for Nebraska football.
Nebraska extended a scholarship offer Saturday to in-state offensive lineman Barrett Kitrell. The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Class of 2027 interior lineman from Ashland confirmed the offer on social media. Iowa offered him earlier in the week, and he has other Division I offers from South Dakota State, Kansas and Iowa State.
Kitrell has visited a number of schools through his junior season, stopping at South Dakota State, Wyoming, Iowa State, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska.
God is so good! After a great conversation with coach @GeepWade I am blessed to receive my 6th D1 offer from Nebraska! @HuskerFootball @AGBluejayFball pic.twitter.com/h3ciXeG727
— Barrett Kitrell (@BarrettK54) January 10, 2026
Kitrell has family ties to Nebraska football across two generations. His father, Barry, was a fullback for the Huskers from 1984-88. His brother Bo was a Husker fullback and tight end 2014 to 2018.
In addition, Barrett’s brother Blake was a Tulsa wide receiver, while brothers Brett and Bryce played at Ohio, having been recruited by Frank Solich.
Barrett Kitrell is a three-sport athlete for Ashland-Greenwood, competing in football, basketball, and track and field for the Bluejays. He has seen varsity action in all three seasons of his football career, playing in 33 games. The Bluejays have won a playoff game each of the past three seasons, advancing to the Class C1 semifinals this past year.
Kitrell becomes the third offensive line prospect offered by Wade and the Huskers this week, joining Grinnell, Iowa, prospect Will Slagle and 2028 prospect Wyatt VanBoening from Mundelein, Illinois. VanBoening also is the son of a former Husker, Simon VanBoening, a linebacker on the Huskers’ 1997 roster.
The Huskers are aiming for a massive overhaul of their offensive line, starting with replacing Donovan Raiola as the position coach. Wade, who came to Nebraska from Georgia Tech, has been retooling his line in early 2026 with transfer portal additions, bringing in Iowa State’s Brendan Black and South Carolina’s Tree Babalade. Nebraska has seen three linemen choose to exit via the portal: Brian Tapu, Houston Kaahaaina-Torres and Jason Maciejczak.
Kitrell could add athleticism to the offensive line, as he finished second in the Class B discus as a sophomore with a personal-best throw of 172’2 while finishing fourth in the shot put. Kitrell averaged four points and four rebounds per game for the Ashland-Greenwood basketball program as the Bluejays claimed the Class C1 championship in 2025.
Kitrell becomes the 16th interior offensive line offer for Nebraska’s 2027 class. The class is headlined by four-star quarterback Trae Taylor and in-state rising stars Tory Pittman III and Matt Erickson.
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Nebraska
IU dominated but then ‘it was just turnovers’ to blow 16-point lead vs Nebraska
Indiana basketball starting lineups, introductions video
The Hoosiers met undefeated Nebraska on Jan. 10. Here are the starting lineups from Assembly Hall.
BLOOMINGTON — Indiana men’s basketball coach Darian DeVries thought his team played well for about 28 minutes Saturday afternoon.
In those 28 minutes, IU built up as much as a 16-point lead against undefeated Nebraska. The Hoosiers went on a 12-2 run to end the first half, then extended that lead early in the second half.
Then, the defense started crumbling. Tucker DeVries picked up two fouls in the course of 21 seconds, forcing him to the bench. The Hoosiers started turning the ball over.
And Indiana’s upset bid fell apart, as the Hoosiers dropped an 83-77 decision to the Cornhuskers (16-0, 5-0 Big Ten).
“It’s disappointing, for sure,” Darian DeVries said. “We played well for a good 25, 27, 28 minutes, whatever, and then just had a bad stretch in there, and the game flipped. That’s why the turnovers are a big piece of that. We had, (a 16-point lead) and Tucker picked up his third and fourth foul on back-to-back possessions. Then they went on a 10-0 run right after that. That was a big turning point in the game, I thought, when he picked those two up.”
It seemed like the coaching staff (and fans) didn’t agree with those fouls, either.
Tucker DeVries’ third foul came as he fell on the ground while trying to defend Berke Buyuktuncel’s shot. Buyuktuncel continued to attempt a shot after the fall, and he got tangled in DeVries’ legs, falling himself, and officials called a foul on DeVries. Both Tucker and Darian DeVries, along with the crowd of 13,000 fans, didn’t agree with that foul.
Tucker DeVries’ fourth foul, which forced him to the bench for eight minutes, came just 21 seconds after his third. On the Hoosiers’ next offensive possession, DeVries attempted to shoulder his defender to get more space, and got called for the offensive foul and the turnover.
Indiana (12-4, 3-2) turned the ball over on four of its next five possessions, Darian DeVries said, and Nebraska capitalized for a 12-2 run to tie the game.
“I just think we didn’t have the type of possessions we needed after (Tucker DeVries) went out again, and most of them, it was just turnovers,” Darian DeVries said. “We didn’t get shots at the goal. I thought there might’ve been one or two in there where I think Lamar (Wilkerson) drove it hard and tried going through contact, and we didn’t get one there, but outside of that, we just didn’t get very good possessions. Our movement wasn’t as good.”
After Nebraska went on that run, all the momentum shifted to the Cornhuskers. In ways, the Hoosiers couldn’t get out of their own head, and the mistakes kept coming.
“We’ve talked to them a lot about that next play mentality,” Darian DeVries said. “Win that next play, and not compound mistakes. I thought tonight, again, for a stretch there was a period where we let one mistake turn into two. Then, instead of digging in and really making sure we get a quality possession the next time, we compounded it with another turnover. It led to back-to-back-to-back. All of a sudden your lead is gone, and momentum is real. It shifted pretty quickly there.”
This game, especially taking into account the 16-point lead Indiana once had, was a crucial opportunity for the Hoosiers to get their first Quad 1 win of the season.
But the Hoosiers, sitting at No. 30 in the NET rankings, still have three straight Quad 1 opportunities coming up in two road tilts at Michigan State and Michigan and a home game against Iowa in the next two weeks.
Those games, much like Nebraska, will be tall tasks. But, DeVries said, if the Hoosiers can execute for a full game like they did in those 28 minutes on Saturday, they’ll have a chance at them.
“When they’re executing the way that they did the first 25 minutes, it looks really good,” DeVries said. “And they’re doing a great job, and they’re defending and getting movement and things.”
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Nebraska
$3,125 Nebraska Pick 4 winning ticket sold in York
LINCOLN, Neb. (KSNB) – One lucky player who bought a Nebraska Pick 4 ticket for the Thursday drawing is holding a ticket worth $3,125.
The ticket was sold at Pump & Pantry #16, 109 Lincoln Avenue, in York. The winning numbers from Thursday’s Nebraska Pick 4 draw were 09, 06, 01, 02.
Winning Nebraska Lottery Lotto tickets expire 180 days after the drawing. Tickets with total prize amounts of $501 to $19,999 must be claimed by mail or at a Regional Lottery Claim Center. Additional information about claiming prizes can be found at the Nebraska Lottery website, nelottery.com, or by calling 800-587-5200.
Nebraska Pick 4 is a daily Lotto game from the Nebraska Lottery. Players select four numbers, each from a separate set of digits 0 through 9, for a chance to win up to $6,000. Players decide what type of play style and potential prizes to play for by choosing from one of six bet types. The odds of winning the $3,125 prize in Nebraska Pick 4 are 1 in 10,000.
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Copyright 2026 KSNB. All rights reserved.
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