LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah wants No. 21 Nebraska to keep feeding him the ball when the Cornhuskers open Big Ten play against Illinois on Saturday night.

Abdullah has the third-most rushing attempts in the nation and has touched the ball on one-third of Nebraska’s plays from scrimmage. He ran for 229 yards on a career-high 35 carries in last Saturday’s 41-31 victory against Miami.

The more carries for Abdullah, the more exposure he stands to receive.

Nebraska (4-0) is promoting Abdullah more for postseason awards than it has for its previous standouts. His rushing average of 156.3 yards a game is second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally.

Illinois (3-1) is coming off a 42-35 victory over Texas State.

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team continued its preparations for their Saturday night Big Ten opener with the Illinois Fighting Illini on Thursdayafternoon, as the Huskers completed a 50-minute walk-thru inside of the Hawks Championship Center.

Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini met with the media afterward, noting that the Huskers have had a good week of preparation leading up the game Saturdaynight.

“We’ve had a good week of preparation,” Pelini said. “It’s been a good attention to detail. We’re looking forward obviously to starting Big Ten play.”

After a shaky start defensive start in the first few games, Pelini is happy with the progress the linebackers have made since the victory over Miami last weekend.

“We’ve definitely had a good week,” he said. “I mean it always depends how they’re going to come out and choose to play us, but we could definitely end up in multiple packages. We just have to see how it plays out. Our linebackers have had a good week.”

Pelini announced that junior linebacker David Santos will most likely not see any action Saturday night due to an injury suffered last Saturday against Miami. So far this season, Santos has made 11 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles. The Spring, Texas, native also had an interception against Miami last weekend.

With the absence of Santos, look for senior walk-on Trevor Roach of Elkhorn, Neb. to step in and fill the position. Roach played a key role during NU’s last game against Miami, forcing a fumble that senior cornerback Josh Mitchell recovered and returned for a touchdown.

The Nebraska football team will have one more practice Friday afternoon before its Saturday night game. Nebraska’s Homecoming game against the Fighting Illini kicks off at 8 p.m. (central) at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. BTN will carry the TV coverage.

Lincoln, Neb.- The Nebraska football team continued its preparations for its primetime Big Ten conference opener Saturday night with the Illinois Fighting Illini, as the Huskers conducted a 1-hour and 50-minute practice Tuesday afternoon. The Huskers practice both inside of the Hawks Championship Center and outside on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields.

Defensive coordinator John Papuchis met with media members after practice, mentioning that the overall defensive maturity has been the thing that he has been most impressed with so far this season.

“I would say as much as anything is our maturity, in terms of when things have happened during the games that haven’t been good for us, we have responded relatively well,” Papuchis said. “That was probably one of the things that bothered me the most in the last couple years, things started to snowball on us.”

Papuchis added that the team’s maturity has really improved with the increased confidence and mental strength shown on the team.

“We have a lot of guys that have a lot of snaps under their belt, but they have realized you have to keep playing and believe in what we are doing and have confidence that we are going to get things squared away,” Papuchis said.

Freshman cornerback Joshua Kalu made an enormous impact for the Blackshirts this past weekend against Miami, as the first year player made his first career interception in the second half of the game. So far, Papuchis has really liked what he has seen out of Kalu, noting that he is a football smart kid.

“First of all he is a very good football player, athletically gifted, beyond that he is mature and smart,” Papuchis said. “He is a football smart kid, I think when he leaves this facility he spends a lot of time with his playbook because when he makes a mistake he corrects it the next time.”

When asked what he and the coaching staff is preparing for defensively, Papuchis said the Illini’s offensive scheme is very multiple, with different variations of the spread offense and pro-style offense.

“They are as multiple of an offense as you can be, I think they have every personnel grouping that you can have,” he said. “The big sets, spread four-wide sets, and they run a lot of empty. They force you to prepare for a lot of different things.”

The Nebraska football team will continue its week of preparation Wednesday as the Huskers prepare for Saturday’s game. Kickoff between the two Big Ten West foes will be nationally televised on Big Ten Network at 8pm (CT).