By ANDY LEFKOWITZ
STATS Editor

Western Kentucky (0-0) at No. 22 Nebraska (0-0), 7:00 p.m. EDT

Before changing conferences, Nebraska would like to leave with
one more Big 12 title - and perhaps a national one as well.

Eighth-ranked Nebraska opens its final season as a member of the
conference Saturday night against overmatched Western Kentucky,
which will try to snap a 20-game skid in Willie Taggart's
coaching debut.

Nebraska is already off to a good start as it concludes nearly
80 straight years in the Big Eight and Big 12 prior to joining
the Big Ten next July. The Cornhuskers have their highest
ranking since 2003 and are expected to win the Big 12 North
outright.

Coach Bo Pelini, though, downplays the hype.

"I don't concern myself with polls or anything else. We're going
to get what we earn this fall," said Pelini, who's gone 20-8 in
his first two seasons to make the Cornhuskers relevant again
after four lackluster years under Bill Callahan.

Nebraska will be looking for its sixth national championship and
first since 1997. While Pelini has hinted about who will start
at quarterback, he's yet to reveal who it is.

Zac Lee completed nearly 59 percent of his passes last season
for 2,143 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. But
he's coming off elbow surgery and is being pushed by redshirt
freshman Taylor Martinez and sophomore Cody Green.

The running game is anchored by Roy Helu Jr., who overcame a
shoulder problem last season to run for 1,147 yards and 10
touchdowns. Niles Paul also returns after leading the team with
796 receiving yards.

Nebraska will be looking to improve an offense that was 99th in
the Football Bowl Subdivision with 323 yards and 75th with 25
points per game last season.

"Hopefully, we score a lot more," said receiver Mike McNeill,
who tied Paul for the team lead with four TD catches in 2009. "I
think we can be a little more dynamic."

The Cornhuskers' defense is probably thinking the same thing,
even with Heisman Trophy finalist Ndamukong Suh now in the NFL.
Seven starters return from a unit that led the nation in fewest
points allowed, including junior tackle Jared Crick (9 1/2
sacks) and senior cornerback Prince Amukamara (five
interceptions).

"We have big shoes to fill," linebacker Will Compton said. "But
the way our defense handles things and the trust we have in our
coaches, we believe we'll still get the job done."

Pelini admitted not knowing much about a Western Kentucky team
that was 0-12 to join Eastern Michigan as the only winless FBS
teams last year.

"I'm not real familiar with their personnel yet," he said.
"We're kind of doing some homework."

Still, Nebraska almost certainly will extend the nation's
longest winning streak in season openers to 25.

At 33, Taggart is the youngest coach in the FBS as he returns to
the school that retired his jersey after he starred at
quarterback in the late 1990s.

He'll undoubtedly face many challenges, first being how to win
from the sidelines instead of on the field.

The Hilltoppers' last victory was a 50-9 rout of Murray State in
2008. Though they've been outscored by a greater than 2-to-1
margin since, the last three defeats have come by a total of 13
points.

A breakthrough victory could come this season, but probably not
this weekend. Nebraska has held its last eight opponents to 20
points or less, including four in single digits. Western
Kentucky has dropped 26 of its last 27 to FBS opponents and is
0-6 against ranked teams since 2004.

Taggart, though, likes the progress he's seen thus far.

"I can honestly say we've gotten better as a football team. I
really like where our guys are at right now," he said. "Guys
have really bought in to what I've been talking about when it
comes to having energy and juice."

Sophomore Kawaun Jakes will start at quarterback over junior
Matt Pelesasa, who's been struggling with a sore arm. Jakes
passed for 1,516 yards with nine touchdowns and nine
interceptions in 11 games - eight starts - last year.