Three Key Takeaways apiece from DL Cam Lenhardt, CB Ceyair Wright, RB Rahmir Johnson

Nebraska football is 15 days out from finally competing in a bowl game again.

It will be nearly eight full calendar years since the Huskers last played in the postseason. That game ended in a 38-24 Husker loss to Tennessee in the Music City Bowl on Dec. 30, 2016.

Ranked No. 24 at the time of the loss to the No. 21 Volunteers, the loss dropped Nebraska out of the final Top 25 poll after having been in the national rankings from Week 3 all the way until the bowl game kicked off in Nashville.

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This time around, no national ranking is at stake to lose or in play to gain. There is, however, a golden opportunity for the Huskers to end another skid after having put to rest a 10-game losing streak to Wisconsin and 7-year bowl drought.

Nebraska has not had a non-losing season since finishing 9-4 following that Music City Bowl defeat. The Huskers have also only ended the season with a win twice during that same span: a 24-17 win over Iowa in 2022, and a 28-21 win over Rutgers to close the 2020 Covid season.

Their final records during that span: 5-7 (twice), 4-8 (three times), 3-5 (in 2020) and 3-9.

The chance to finish a 2024 season that was filled with major highs and extreme lows – and head into Year 3 of the Matt Rhule Era with whatever momentum a non-playoff bowl game provides – is not lost among the players.

Doing that – and sending the longtime veterans on this team off with a win over Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl (11 a.m. CT on Dec. 28 in New York City) – was one of keynote topics as DL Cam Lenhardt, RB Rahmir Johnson and CB Ceyair Wright took the podiums Thursday for a coach-and-player press conference with Husker Media.