Lincoln - The Nebraska football team drew nearer to its Saturday showdown with Virginia Tech with a 2-hour practice in Memorial Stadium Thursday afternoon. Head Coach Bo Pelini was pleased with the team’s effort.

“We still got some things to get fixed,” Pelini said. “Effort was good. We put them through a lot of difficult things. I like where we are right now. We’ll see Saturday.”

Pelini said the Huskers won’t be intimidated by the big stage of the game.

“We talk about it a lot, what the approach needs to be able to play well and it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing in the backyard, you’ve got to take the same approach,” Pelini said. “We put them through difficult situations in practice and stressful situations so they’ll react the right way on Saturday.”

The Huskers will host six to eight recruits on official visits this weekend, Pelini said. A great atmosphere is expected Saturday night, as is typical for Memorial Stadium on game day.

“The atmosphere in this stadium is always good,” Pelini said. “A night game will probably help a little bit. You get a little more time with them during the day. I hope it will be a good atmosphere. It seems like the people are pretty excited for the game.”

Pelini said defensive end Pierre Allen will start against the Hokies and safety Ricky Thenarse should see playing time as well.

The Huskers and Hokies kickoff at 7 p.m. with ABC regional television broadcasting the game.