Huskers know they're not the same team as last year and Illinois isn't either

For as encouraging as the first three weeks of the college football season have been for the Nebraska Cornhuskers and their fans, the team knows the real test starts Friday against Illinois.

Last season, the Huskers beat Illinois 20-7 in Champaign, and while Nebraska has certainly looked much-improved this season, so have the Illini.

“It’s not like playing them last year,” Huskers head coach Matt Rhule said on Monday, noting Illinois' changes and improvements.

During the non-conference slate, the two teams were pretty similar. Physical on both sides of the ball, efficient on offense and stingy on defense, and Huskers fans may be familiar with Illinois' emphasis early on: take care of the ball and create turnovers, something they've excelled at thus far.

“That was all preseason to me," Rhule said of the first three games. "Now the season starts. It’s the first game for us in the Big Ten and we’ll find out where we are.”

Related: Huskers compare favorably to Big Ten foes after non-conference slate

Nebraska's coordinators on Tuesday highlighted the Illini's physicality, talent, experience and turnover margin — tied for second-best in the country at plus-eight so far — as big challenges for the Huskers on Friday. Additionally, there will be an adjustment in terms of play style and physicality against Big Ten opponents, although Nebraska hopes Northern Iowa helped prepare them for that.

“This is gonna be an absolute battle. They’re a really, really good team," Rhule said of Illinois.

While the higher stakes and different style of play will be a particularly big adjustment for Nebraska's true freshmen, quarterback Dylan Raiola says he and the Huskers are keeping their usual routines and will have to adjust on the fly.

“Everyone’s preparing the same way we have for UTP, Colorado and UNI. Everything’s been preparing us for this moment and I know our guys will be ready to answer the bell,” Raiola said.

Related: 'We needed to see that' — Notes & quotes following Huskers 34-3 win over Northern Iowa

Nebraska center Ben Scott, a senior, has been through this before and knows what to expect.

“It’s gonna be a lot of man on man blocks and a lot of will on will,” Scott said on Tuesday.

Fellow senior Ty Robinson added, “We’re gonna have some challenges, but we’re up for it."

The Huskers have passed their first three tests but now the difficulty level starts increasing. It's time to see how they respond.

Related: Huskers move up in top-25 poll, Illinois enters rankings