Lincoln - The Nebraska football team continued preparations for this weekend’s big road tilt against Kansas State with a two-and-a-half hour workout in half pads inside Memorial Stadium on Tuesday. The Huskers face the Wildcats at 1:10 p.m. Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.

Earlier in the day at his weekly press conference, Head Coach Bill Callahan spoke with high regard of the talent on the Kansas State team that his Huskers will match up against this weekend.

"I can say we’re very impressed in every aspect of (Kansas State’s) play," Callahan said. "They are a quality football team. They have depth at each position, and they play an outstanding physical game. Everything about their presence on the field captures your attention, not only from an offensive standpoint, but from a defensive perspective. They are the best defense we’ve seen to date in terms of their physicalness, strength, talent and size."

An important matchup in the scope of the Big 12 North Division’s race, Callahan says the Huskers are excited for the opportunity to face such a quality opponent on the road.

"Every game is big," Callahan said. "You try to make a big deal out of every game. This program is renowned for being in big games. We want to be in big games. This will be an exciting weekend for our team, and we need to rectify some of the road errors we displayed a couple of weeks ago. It will be a great challenge for us to go back on the road and see if we can meet that challenge."

Callahan also announced Nebraska’s players of the game for last week’s contest against Baylor. Defensive tackle Le Kevin Smith and linebacker Stewart Bradley were named defensive players of the week, while I-back Brandon Jackson earned special teams honors following several quality kickoff returns against the Bears. The entire offensive unit was awarded for their high-scoring performance. Quarterback Joe Ganz and linebacker Andy Kadavy also were awarded for their respective work with the offensive and defensive scout teams during the practice week.

NU will continue its preparations for the Wildcats with an afternoon practice on Wednesday.