Lincoln – The Nebraska football team continued preparations for Southern Miss by practicing for two hours on the Ed and Joyanne Gass practice fields outside of the Hawks Championship Center on Thursday.

Head Coach Bo Pelini talked to the media afterwards and expressed pleasure in his team’s efforts, saying the game plan has come together well.

“I thought we finished up the week well,” Pelini said. “I thought that was the best practice of the week today. It was a little bit back and forth throughout the week but we’ll kind of put it to the test on Saturday.”

Pelini also talked about Saturday’s opponent, Southern Miss, and was impressed with the Golden Eagles on film.

“They are a much better football team than they were a year ago,” Pelini said. “I don’t know about the result or anything else and I know they turned the ball over six times last week but you put on the film and they’ll get your attention. They have very good skill on the offensive side, they are fast on defense and aggressive.”

Pelini added that he thinks the young players are making progress although they aren’t where they need to be yet.

“I think their understanding grows by the day, by the practice, by the period, by the rep,” Pelini said. “That’s what it has to be. Going out there and understanding the defense is one thing but having to make adjustments within a game plan and according to your opponent is part of the process.”

Pelini also named some specific young linebackers he was pleased with throughout the week.

“Michael Rose had an excellent week of practice,” Pelini said. “As did Josh Banderas. Zaire Anderson worked his tail off this week. That’s one thing about what we have going right now. We have some really good competition going on in practice and that’s going to make you better as the season goes on.”

Nebraska and Southern Miss will kick off at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium with TV coverage provided by Big Ten Network.