Matt Slauson wouldn’t go as far as calling it pure hatred. But he shares the same feelings about teams from the Big 12 South that many Nebraska fans probably do.

“It’s just a sour respect,” said Slauson, a sophomore right tackle. “They’re just so good every year, and you’ve got to respect them while you hate them a little bit.

“The South has a lot of powerhouse teams. The North may not have quite as many, but the ones we do have … we’re going to take over.

“This is the year we’re going to start the dynasty over again.”

North teams are 3-13 versus South teams this season, and the Huskers are 0-2. They have a chance to make a statement Saturday at Texas A&M. A victory would clinch a North title for the Huskers and give Nebraska another game against the South in the Big 12 Championship Game.

“I would like to see the North win all the time,” Slauson said. “But really, I just care about winning for us, winning for our senior guys. This is their last year. I want to give them two rings to go out on.”

Nebraska hasn’t played in the Big 12 Championship Game since 1999. Colorado and Kansas State have represented the North in the title game every year since, and the Buffs were routed by Texas 70-3 in last year’s game.

“It was pretty gross,” Slauson said of that game. “I’m not going to say another team should’ve been in that game to give a better showing, but definitely Texas was the dominant force in that game.”

How does the North gain some respect?

“Winning,” Slauson said. “Us going down to Kansas City and winning.”

First thing’s first, of course. Beating either A&M or Colorado on Nov. 24 to win the North.

“We need to focus on this game (against A&M), this game only, and that will give the North an opportunity to go down and show what the North has got,” he said.

THIRD-QUARTER GOAL: Nebraska has scored just one third-quarter touchdown through six conference football games. That came at Kansas State. In their last two games, the Huskers had long drives to start the third quarter, but missed a field goal at Oklahoma State and didn’t convert on a fourth-and-1 play against Missouri. “It’s just a mind-set,” Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor said. “We’ve got to come out there expecting to score on the first series of the third quarter.” Conversely, Texas A&M has allowed only 34 third-quarter points in Big 12 games and only 14 fourth-quarter points.

 FEELING GOOD: Taylor said he felt better physically after the Missouri game than after any game this season. Taylor wasn’t sacked and took few hits. While protection was improved, Taylor noted the Huskers didn’t have a lot of drop-back passes. Coaches relied on play-action passes, and also several swing passes and screens to running backs. “It won’t let teams rush us as hard as they want to,” said Taylor, who was 13-of-21 passing for 208 yards. Seven of those completions went to running backs. “When we do it five or six times in a game, teams take note of that. It should back them off a little bit and give us some opportunities to really sit back there and throw the ball.”

 POSSESSION BATTLE: Nebraska coach Bill Callahan noted that Texas A&M is among the best teams in the conference at possessing the football. The Aggies’ average time of possession is 33:52. That could make for an interesting battle — and maybe a quick game — considering the Huskers’ average TOP is 32:45. “You’re not going to have a lot of opportunities,” Callahan said, “so you are going to have to do a great job of capitalizing the opportunities you are presented with.”

 GETTING OFF THE FIELD: Junior defensive back Bryan Wilson, who plays safety in the Huskers’ nickel package, pointed to an easy statistic to indicate defensive success — or failure — for the Blackshirts. “You think about the (Kansas) and Oklahoma State games, those games … we didn’t get off the field like we should get off the field,” Wilson said. Indeed, opponents’ third-down conversion rate in those games — games in which the defense surrendered a combined 1,028 yards — was 6-of-18 and 6-of-11, respectively. Compare that to Missouri’s 3-of-13 rate, or Kansas State’s 1-of-13. “If you look at the games where we win on third down and get off the field,” Wilson said, “those are the games where we’ve had a lot of consistency.” Texas A&M, by the way, is 70 of 136 on third down (51 percent).

 ETC.: According to the Texas A&M Web site, 1,500 tickets remain for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game in College Station. … Nebraska’s 38-31 victory at Kyle Field in 2002 tied for the largest comeback (17 points) in school history. … This is the 11th consecutive Saturday game for the Huskers, who’ve played without a bye week to this point. That hasn’t happened since 1989.