Lincoln -- One of the NFL's early surprises has been the Carolina Panthers, who have allowed one touchdown in its past two games en route to a 3-0 start, and a pair of former Huskers have been spearheading the defense. Defensive end Mike Rucker led the charge with a pair of sacks - his second multi-sack game this season - and five tackles, while Mike Minter made six stops in the Panthers' 23-3 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. Rucker is among the NFL leaders with his five sacks, already half his 2002 total of 10 in 16 contests.

In Buffalo, running back Correll Buckhalter rushed for 25 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, as the Eagles (1-2) picked up their first win of the season with a 23-13 win over the Bills. In Baltimore, the tandem of Will Shields and Eric Warfield helped Kansas City remain one of the NFL's six unbeaten squads with a 17-10 win over the Ravens. Shields helped Chiefs running back Priest Holmes rush for 90 yards on the ground, while Warfield made five tackles in holding the Ravens to one touchdown.

In Washington, Russ Hochstein made his first career start in the Patriots' 20-17 loss to Washington on Sunday, and is one of five former Husker linemen to start in the NFL last week, joining Shields, Dominic Raiola (Detroit), Chris Dishman (Arizona) and Zach Wiegert (Houston).

The weekend concludes, as a trio of former Huskers (Mike Brown, Ahman Green and Erwin Swiney) will be featured in tonight's Monday Night Football matchup between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers. Mike Brown. With the addition to Dahrran Diedrick to the Green Bay Packers' practice squad last week, a total of 33 former Huskers are now on NFL rosters, a total that leads the Big 12.