Stewart, currently an associate athletic director at Missouri, said the week Nebraska played Kansas in 1994  was actually one of the toughest games for the Husker defense.

"It was our last home game and we seniors were pretty excited," he said. "Then, about midweek, I got sick, Troy Dumas got sick and it seemed like a lot of guys got the flu."

Still, the Husker defense recorded its usual three KU quarterback Asheiki Preston.

"We were pretty confident in the 4-3 defense by then and it was working against everybody," Stewart said. "We put that in as our dime package when I was new to the defense and by 1993, it was our base defense. By 1994, we had a pretty good handle on it and Coach Charlie McBride had plenty of ways to disguise what we were doing."

Stewart, for instance, would charge the quarterback at the snap of the ball, read for the running back to block or release. If the back went out on a pass route, Stewart followed.

"We had people up front just manhandling the line and the whole defense bringing pressure all game long," he said.

"We had some injuries, Mike Minter on defense, Tommie Frazier and Brook Berringer at times on offense, and yet we took the slogan, ‘If they don't score, we win,' on defense and we stuck to that."

Stewart said the closeness of the team helped, too.

"When we talked last week in Lincoln (at a reunion) it was time to catch up, talk about families and see who was doing what," he said. "We also talked a little about what we got done on that team and how it was such a great time."

Stewart and wife Amy have a 1-month-old daughter, Ava Marie.

— Ken Hambleton