THOUGHTS FROM PRINCE: One guy who is not taking Nebraska lightly despite its recent struggles is Kansas State coach Ron Prince.

The Wildcats are coming off a disheartening loss themselves, a 31-20 setback at Iowa State.

“They’re a play or two, or a tackle or two (away),” Prince said of the Huskers. “And there are times in every coach’s career where you find yourself seemingly a little bit of a play behind or maybe a tackle short.”

K-State (5-4) still needs a win to become bowl-eligible. The remaining schedule presents some tests. After Nebraska, the Wildcats finish with Missouri and Fresno State.

And despite Nebraska’s struggling defense this season, Prince is concerned about what the Husker offense can do.

“I’m looking at the scoring and I see that each week there’s progress. Six points at Missouri (on) Oct. 6 to 39 points against one of the best teams in the country, (Kansas), at Lawrence. We weren’t able to score 39 points against KU,” Prince said.

“The thing that I tried to stress to our coaches and our team is this is a team that led KU, KU responded. … And they led on the road at Texas and were able to do some things against that team in the running game that we were unable to do. So I really don’t characterize it in the way that some people might.”

BO OPTIMISM: Husker coach Bill Callahan is optimistic that Husker linebacker Bo Ruud might be ready for Saturday’s game, the Lincoln native’s final chance to play in Memorial Stadium.

Ruud has been out of action since suffering a knee injury on Texas A&M’s first offensive play on Oct. 20.

“There’s a good chance,” Callahan said of Ruud returning before season’s end. “He’s going to be in practice Tuesday. We’ll have to see how he responds to practice and then evaluate him throughout the week.”

The Huskers are hurting at the linebacker spot. Lance Brandenburgh is out for the year, and Ruud and Blake Lawrence have both not played the past two weeks.

BY THE NUMBERS: 20. Number of Huskers who have caught at least one pass this season, a figure that leads the nation. Troy has had 19 players catch passes. Texas Christian and Colorado have had 18.

SCOUTING REPORT: QB Josh Freeman

Yeah, Josh Freeman’s not a Husker, but Callahan talked some Monday about the K-State quarterback, who had committed to Nebraska before changing his mind.

“They’ve done a wonderful job of developing him and the quarterback he is, and by God, he’s going to get better,” Callahan said.

Freeman has thrown for more than 2,500 yards this year and completed more than 63 percent of his passes. The 6-foot-6, 250-pound sophomore has passed for 12 touchdowns but also 10 interceptions.

“You see him make big plays. He stands tall in the pocket. He can move. He can run. He’s tough to bring down,” Callahan said. “He’s all those things we thought he’d be and probably more.”

Opponent Watch: Colorado

CU starting cornerback Terrence Wheatley (ankle) had a walking boot on his left foot Sunday, and according to the Boulder Daily Camera, “Looked a long way from healthy and being game-ready, but he said he is planning to play against the (Iowa State) Cyclones.”

Colorado sure could use him. The Buffs, coming off an embarrassing 55-10 loss to Missouri, could use some offense, too.

That’s the third-worst home loss in CU history. The Buffs had just 196 yards of offense and three turnovers.

“I thought we’d come in (Sunday) and look at the film and just go, ‘Well, we had no chance.’ But that really wasn’t the case,” CU offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich told the Daily Camera. “It was just kind of a series of one-man breakdowns, which we cannot afford, in the run game, in protection and at quarterback.

“Unfortunately, it was kind of a spread-the-wealth, mistake-prone game.”