Lincoln ? The Nebraska football team began preparations for Saturday evening?s game against No. 25 Penn State with a two-hour workout in sweats on the grass practice fields next to Memorial Stadium Monday afternoon. The Huskers, who are 3-0 and ranked No. 8/7 (AP/Coaches) in this week?s national polls, ran through a typical Monday workout, which included group work as well as working on special teams.

Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said that three players were held out of Monday?s workout, linebackers Barrett Ruud and Chad Sievers, and rush end Chris Kelsay. Solich said that the trio would return for Tuesday?s practice and would be ready to go for Saturday?s nationally televised contest against the Nittany Lions, the first meeting between the two teams since 1983.

Although Penn State has not played since a 27-24 victory over Central Florida on Aug. 31, the NU head coach was impressed with the Nittany Lions? showing in all three aspects of the game in their win over the Golden Knights.

"From an offensive standpoint, they are doing a good job of moving the ball on the ground and through the air," Solich said. "Defensively, they are a very physical team, and are always well coached in terms of special teams. It should be a great game and the atmosphere should be excellent."

While Saturday?s game marks NU?s first on the road this season after three home games, Solich is confident that the Huskers will be able to handle the hostile environment of 107,282-seat Beaver Stadium. Saturday?s sellout will mark the largest crowd a Nebraska team has ever played in front of, surpassing the crowd of 93,781 for last season?s Rose Bowl.

"If you are going to be a great football team, you have to play good at home and on the road," Solich said. "You have to learn to put yourself into the game where you are focused on what you are doing and everything else around is blackened out.

"If you are an excellent player or team, it doesn?t matter if you are playing at home or on the road. If you execute well and give great effort, you will play well."

One of the areas that Solich has been pleased with through the first three games has been at I-back, where Dahrran Diedrick rushed for a season-high 93 yards in Saturday?s win over Utah State.

"I thought Dahrran played well against Utah State." Solich said. "He was right at 91 yards and wasn?t pressing, so we gave him a couple of carries to see if he could get over 100 yards. He?s been a team-oriented player for us and has been a power runner from day one. In our style of offense, he is exactly what we need, and we appreciate what he has done so far this season."

In other news, cornerback DeJuan Groce was honored for the second straight week, as the senior from Garfield Heights, Ohio, was chosen as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week. Groce intercepted a pair of passes and had a pass breakup in NU?s 44-13 win over the Aggies, marking the second straight game with two interceptions. With his four interceptions, he is tied with Tulane?s Lynaris Elpheage for the national lead in that category.

The Huskers will conduct their weekly press conference Tuesday morning before returning to practice in the afternoon.