More reinforcements on the way for Nebraska against Colorado

Huskers who could make their season debuts against Colorado returning from injury include offensive linemen Henry Lutovsky and Gunnar Gottula and cornerback Blye Hill, coach Matt Rhule said Thursday. Hill was viewed as a potential starter before his knee injury during the spring game while Lutovsky and Gottula are rising second-string blockers.

NU will also employ a more standard kicking strategy after being prepared to use both Tristan Alvano and John Hohl for field goals depending on distance last week. Alvano (groin) will serve as the kicker in most situations while Hohl will again handle kickoffs.

Meanwhile, senior linebacker Javin Wright appears closer to seeing the field in future weeks after a “really positive update” on his health situation Thursday morning.

“Things are trending in the right direction for him to come back at some point and sooner than later,” Rhule said of Wright. “There’s a lot of steps that have to happen so I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. But he’s battling and doing everything right.”

Nebraska — which used 107 players in the opener — figures to make collective strides in Week 2, Rhule said. His own coach at Penn State, Joe Paterno, always said the most improvement came between the first and second games.

“I think we made a jump this week,” Rhule said. “I think we were able to look at the game and see the things from last week that we didn’t do well, look at some players and see what their natural strengths are. We came out of that game healthy. You start stacking days.”

* Players and coaches will spend much of Saturday in the team facility waiting for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff. That will include some time watching other Saturday college football action.

“The biggest thing you have to worry about is not getting too emotionally invested in a game that’s not your game,” Rhule said. “We’re going to play a lot of night games. I think we’re going to be a team that people want to have on national TV, primetime games, eventually. We gotta get used to it.”

* The running back usage figures to be similar to last week, Rhule said, when NU split carries between Rahmir Johnson, Dante Dowdell, Emmett Johnson and Gabe Ervin. Rahmir Johnson will get the first looks on third down.

* Rhule said he’s never coached in as intense an atmosphere as he expects Saturday night — at least not when his team is at home. Temple’s contest at Penn State in 2016 is perhaps his gold standard for most raucous atmosphere he’s experienced.

* The coach showed players video of the Terence Crawford-Errol Spence fight from last year to show how a champion like Crawford handles a big moment.

“That picture of what a great boxer looks like… that to me is what a great football team looks like,” Rhule said. “It’s not emotional, it’s not swinging from side to side. It’s just very methodical and stoic and stone-faced. I hope we play that way.”