The Fresno State football team will seek to defend its 13-game home win streak under head coach Tim DeRuyter Saturday when it hosts the Big Ten’s Nebraska Cornhuskers in a home-opening showdown.

The streak is the second longest in the country, only behind Northern Illinois’ 27-game streak.

Bulldogs head coach Tim DeRuyter said some of the areas the team focused on this week were improving the defense and building back up their confidence after getting “punched in the nose” by USC and Utah.

Here is an overview of Nebraska’s offense and defense:

Cornhuskers’ offense poses major threat

The Cornhusker’s offense is headlined by arguably the most explosive running back in the country in Ameer Abdullah. The senior from Homewood, Alabama, has garnered national attention and most recently Heisman Trophy candidacy for his 391 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns in two games this season. The Huskers’ offense ranks sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game with 346.5

The 5-foot-9, 195-pound back will look to become the only player in the history of the program to rack up three 1,000 yard rushing season.

The Bulldog defenders can’t focus all their attention on the run game because they would risk up opening up passing lanes for Huskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. and wide outs Kenny Bell and Jordan Westerkamp.

Armstrong has thrown for 513 yards and four scores through the air and added 193 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

“He’s a very explosive runner,” DeRuyter said. “You saw last week that he ran for over 100 yards. He has a very strong arm and it looks like he can throw it about 80 yards down the field. With Nebraska’s offense, you have to commit guys to the run, which creates one-on-one situations – similar to what we try to do with our offense. Last week they had some very explosive plays because of throws that he made.”

Bell and Westerkamp have been the main recipients of Armstrong’s passes, combining for 316 yards and two touchdowns over a two-game span.

“Bell and Westerkamp are pretty darn good,” DeRuyter said. “Nebraska because of the history of its program, have done a really good job of recruiting and developing guys. It’s going to be a challenge just like every week.”

‘Dogs must account for DE Gregory

The Cornhuskers defense, coordinated by John Papuchis, has surrendered an average of 15.5 points per game so far this season.

A bright spot of the Huskers’ defense features junior defensive end Randy Gregory.

Gregory is a pass-rushing force off the end, finishing last season ranked first in the Big Ten in sacks with 10.5.

However, the 6-foot-6 defender suffered a knee injury in the season opener against Florida Atlantic and sat out last week against McNeese State. Head coach Bo Pelini said he should be ready to play Saturday.

Fresno State will need to pay special attention to Grgory in order to enhance its offense

Last week the Huskers were nearly upset by McNeese State after the defense gave up 10 points in the fourth quarter, that allowed the Cowboys to tie things up at 24 apiece. Abdullah broke free on a 58-yard touchdown catch with 20 seconds remaining in the game to avoid overtime.

This will mark the second all-time meeting between the squads. The first meeting took place in 2011 when Pat Hill was still the Bulldogs’ head coach. In that contest, the then No. 10-ranked Huskers avoided the upset by scoring by two touchdowns late in the game to pull out the 42-29 victory.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday at Bulldog Stadium.