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This is the week when Nebraska truly understands how much has changed in a year.
This is the week Cornhuskers fans will use as a measuring stick.
This is the week to find out how much last season’s finale really hurt the players who went through it.
This is Iowa week.
And this marks a year since one of the worst beatdowns in recent memory in Big Red country: Iowa 56, Nebraska 14.
When Nebraska left the Big 12 for the Big Ten after the 2010 season, it meant a lot of old rivalries were out the window and a lot of new ones were born. One of the big things the Cornhuskers needed in their new conference was a regional clash which made sense, one which could build over time and replace the intense matchups Big Red had against its former Big 12 rivals, especially Oklahoma and Colorado. Nebraska needed a new rivalry to end every season.
Iowa has fit the bill nicely.
First, the obvious: The state of Iowa is the only one which borders Nebraska and has a Big Ten school.
Second, because of that border there are a decent number of Hawkeyes fans living in Nebraska and a healthy amount of Cornhuskers fans living in Iowa.
Third, Iowa was somewhat looking for that kind of rival itself.
You see, the Hawkeyes don’t really have a rival program that has served as a season-ender for decades on end like Ohio State-Michigan or Indiana-Purdue. In the 1950s Iowa closed against Notre Dame every year. Then for a while it was Illinois. Then Michigan State, then for a coupe of decades it was Minnesota, even Wisconsin a few times.
But for the past eight years, Nebraska vs. Iowa has nestled itself into the season finale slot, the day after Thanksgiving. And the game feels like it’s right where it belongs.
Younger fans will recognize that Nebraska and Iowa are meeting for the eighth straight season as Big Ten West Division foes. They might be surprised to learn that the programs have met 48 times overall.
The first meeting came in 1891, just Iowa’s third year of football and Nebraska’s second. The Cornhuskers lead the series 29-16-3 but Iowa has won the past three. In fact the Hawkeyes seek to beat the Cornhuskers four straight years for the first time in series history.
This game also represents a chance for Nebraska to send out its 19 seniors on a high note. Winning five out of six games after an 0-6 start would indicate a program headed in the right direction — a far cry from the humiliating way in which 2017 ended. Last season the Cornhuskers gave up 50 or more points in each of their final three games including that 56-14 loss at home to Iowa. That was Iowa’s biggest margin of victory ever against Nebraska.
One last thought: This game marks the continuation of one cool new tradition and a chance for the Cornhuskers to participate in another one.
When the series was reborn in 2011 after an 11-year hiatus, the schools instituted the Heroes Trophy, not only for a piece of hardware for the victor to claim but as a way to honor one citizen hero from each state. And in the past two seasons, during a break in every game at Kinnick Stadium, players and fans from both teams turn toward Iowa Children’s Hospital, which overlooks the stadium, and wave to the young patients.
Those are examples of two states which share both a border and good old Midwestern warmth. But make no mistake, that warmth is going to feel heated with each passing year of this old yet new rivalry to end the season.
Certainly, Nebraska has had a year to get hot about losing by 42 points to Iowa in 2017.
This is the week to find out what that means.
Longtime newspaper veteran Jim Tomlin is a writer and editor for saturdaytradition.com and saturdaydownsouth.com.