The University of Nebraska and FSN announced Friday that the Huskers’ first three football games of the 2008 season will be telecast via pay-per-view on participating cable systems and nationwide to satellite dish customers. The games included in the announcement are home games against Western Michigan (Aug. 30), San Jose State (Sept. 6) and New Mexico State (Sept. 13).

Kickoff times for the first two contests have also been determined with the debut of the 2008 Huskers against Western Michigan set for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff from Memorial Stadium. A week later, Nebraska and San Jose State will meet in an 11:30 a.m. CT game. The kickoff time for the Sept. 13 matchup with New Mexico State will be determined no later than 12 days in advance of the contest.

“We wanted to announce our plans for these first three games as early as possible so our fans can start making plans for the beginning of the season,” Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne said. “There is a lot of excitement around the state to see our team get going with Bo as head coach and the pay-per-view option gives fans that can’t be at Memorial Stadium the opportunity to watch the first three games.”

Suggested retail price for residential purchase for each of the games is $29.95. Big 12 Special Order Sports, Fox Sports Net’s pay-per-view division, will produce and distribute the telecast. Additional information about how to purchase the telecast, including a list of participating cable systems and satellite providers, will be announced leading up to the games. Further details will be posted on Huskers.com and FoxSports.com (search: Nebraska pay-per-view) as they become available.

The games are being televised on a pay-per-view basis because they were not selected for over-the-air broadcast or cable television coverage. Participating cable and satellite providers will offer the telecast to their customers on a specially designated pay-per-view channel. The telecast will not pre-empt FSN’s regularly scheduled programming.

“This is the exciting beginning to a new era in Nebraska football,” said FSN General Manager and Senior Vice President Jack Donovan. “We’re excited to work with Nebraska and our cable and satellite partners to make this game, which otherwise wouldn’t be televised, available to fans.”

The announcers for the contest will also be determined at a later date.

Nebraska has previously had 10 games distributed on pay-per-view through FSN, including: Oct. 12, 2002 vs. Missouri; Oct. 25, 2003 vs. Iowa State; Sept. 4, 2004 vs. Western Illinois; Oct. 2, 2004 vs. Kansas; Sept. 3, 2005 vs. Maine; Oct. 15, 2005 at Baylor; Sept. 23, 2006 vs. Troy; Oct. 14, 2006 at Kansas State, Sept. 22, 2007 vs. Ball State, and Oct. 13, 2007 vs. Oklahoma State.

In addition to the times of the opening two games, Nebraska is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff against Colorado on Friday, Nov. 28. That game will be televised nationally by ABC. Game times and television information for the remainder of the Huskers’ games will be announced six to 12 days in advance of kickoff.