While Nebraska football finishes out the last couple targets for the 2025 recruiting class, much of the focus has turned to 2026. Among the names being circled is James Dunnigan Jr.

Dunnigan is a three-star safety from Manhattan High School in Manhattan, Kansas. He was offered by the Nebraska Cornhuskers back in June. Some of the early competition for the defensive back has been Kansas, Kansas State, and Colorado State, who have all also offered the three-star prospect. His father played at Kansas State in the early 2000s, which is something to keep in mind as well.

The talented prospect recently caught up with HuskerMax.

“My recruitment has been picking up even more and it’s going good,” Dunnigan said. “Nebraska, KU, and K-State have stood out among most schools recruiting me so far.”

Despite having ties to the Wildcats, Nebraska isn’t going away easy and Dunnigan knows it.

“Nebraska is towards the top of my schools of interest,” Dunnigan said.

Dunnigan does not currently have a visit in place for Lincoln.

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The tears streamed down Ally Batenhorst’s face minutes before the No. 20 USC Trojans squared off against her former teammates of the No. 2 Nebraska Huskers on Sunday night at the Devaney Sports Center.

Batenhorst, originally from Omaha and a former Husker, received a thunderous ovation during the starting lineups. As the applause continued, she covered her mouth in disbelief at the heartfelt welcome.

She began fanning the tears when Lexi Rodriguez, Kennedi Orr, and Harper Murray gave Batenhorst their starting lineup ball with handwritten messages from the team.

Several fans waved homemade signs for the outside hitter who transferred to USC for her final collegiate season after graduating from NU in the spring.

“I graduated from here so I’m still always going to be a Husker. It feels like home here and it’s something that’s really special and I just love the people here.”

Batenhorst finished with a match-high 13 kills with a .242 hitting percentage.

“They always say there’s no place like Nebraska. Everyone is just beyond supportive. … You don’t see that at other schools. When I transferred, I was wondering about those things but I never really realized how much support I was actually going to get. It was overwhelming.”

Batenhorst never felt uncomfortable or unwelcome. In fact, when the team’s charter flight landed in town on Saturday, the digital display at Duncan Aviation had a message to welcome Batenhorst back to Lincoln.

USC associate head coach Tyler Hildebrand joined Batenhorst in a return home. The whole match felt “weird” for Husker head coach John Cook but he was glad his team pulled away with another top-25 win.

“First of all, this was kind of a weird match to play with Tyler over there and Ally,” Cook said afterward. “You see how close Ally still is with these guys. I don’t know, it was weird.”

Batenhorst trained with the Huskers all spring despite announcing her intent to transfer to USC before the end of the school year.

That doesn’t happen at most programs, Nebraska is family.

“She’s a Husker,” said Cook. “I think people love watching her play. She did a great job on social media and you can see how tight she still is with our players. There’s an emotional connection there. She trained with us all spring. She’s part of our family. I think our fans know that. … She played great. Good for her.”

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It’s a testament to the Matt Rhule era of Nebraska football that off the field, the program has been relatively drama free. However, bature abhores a vacuum and that might be there has been one soap opera around this team this fall and that’s been the “will he or won’t be” of Micah Mazzccua sticking on the roster for the entire season.

Earlier this weekend, it seemed as if the conclusion was that he was already off the team. There were people seeing him taking a flight going in the opposite direction of the rest of the Huskers. When that’s happening the day before game day, it’s never seen as a good thing.

However, after the Nebraska football team’s 28-10 win over Purdue on Saturday, head coach Matt Rhule said in no uncertain terms that Mazzccua is not off the team. While that was an interesting nugget, it’s likely just going to keep the soap opera going. At least for one more day.

Rhule added he’ll shed more light on the situation during his Monday afternoon press conference. Adding once again he’s not off the team, he also said the transfer offensive lineman is “not with them” right now.

All of this new drama comes a week after things with Mazzccua seemed very fluid. He was ruled out of the Northern Iowa game at the last minute. Then Rhule made it clear he wasn’t hurt.

After that game, he said the former Florida Gator and Baylor Bear would not play against Illinois. Something then changed and he was available but not starting. He was seen warming up against Illinois but didn’t get in the game.

Hopefully, when Monday rolls around, this particular situation will make some more sense and it won’t be the talk of Nebraska football every single week.