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The Husker football team practiced Tuesday through Thursday this week, with coaches hitting the road for recruiting visits prior to returning home for a Sunday practice.

As Nebraska readies for its final three-week stretch of the regular season, here are the burning questions that will define the Huskers’ next three games.

What does a fresh set of eyes reveal?

Head coach Matt Rhule decided to bring in an external perspective over Nebraska’s bye week, turning to trusted coaches for their opinions on the team’s struggles. Former West Virginia and Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen will evaluate NU’s efforts on the offensive side of the ball, while Phil Snow will take a look at the Husker defense.

A longtime Rhule assistant who worked as the head coach’s defensive coordinator at Temple, Baylor and the Carolina Panthers, Snow may have less to address than Holgorsen.

If there’s anyone who can help jumpstart a struggling offense, it’s a coach whose pedigree speaks for itself. From 2007-2012, Holgorsen led the offense at four different schools — Texas Tech, Houston, Oklahoma State and West Virginia — and finished with a top-10 scoring offense six years in a row.

Both coaches are respected veterans with decades of experience in college football. What does their trip to Lincoln reveal?

Can the offense find stable footing?

Even prior to its midseason bye, the Nebraska offense has slumped heavily over the last four weeks. Scoring, yardage and efficiency are down as opponents continue to relentlessly pressure freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola. Can offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield come up with the right play calls to remedy that situation, and can Raiola make his own improvements?

Nebraska’s general lack of production on the ground has also been damaging, and the Huskers will need more from their rushing attack.

How does the turnover picture look?

An area of the game that looked like a notable strength for Nebraska has taken a hit in recent weeks. At the midpoint of its season, Nebraska had posted a plus-6 turnover margin which stood as the second-best mark in the Big Ten Conference.

Nebraska has struggled since. Five turnovers in a loss to Indiana, one turnover at Ohio State and two more against UCLA have wiped out the team’s early season progress. The Huskers now sit exactly even in the turnover department, having forced 12 and lost 12 this season.

Make no mistake, it’s a dramatic turnaround from a 2023 season in which Nebraska turned the ball over 31 times and forced just 14; the Huskers are set to improve on both marks. But can Nebraska end its season positive in the turnover department, or will its recent skid in that area continue?

Will special teams display consistency?

It’s been an up-and-down season for the Nebraska special teams unit, but improvements have been there in recent weeks. While the Huskers spent their first bye week ranked No. 121 nationally in special teams efficiency, they’ve improved to No. 80 in the weeks that followed.

A three-field goal day for kicker John Hohl at Ohio State and a steady three-week stretch from punter Brian Buschini have helped in that area. Whether on snaps, kicks or returns, can Nebraska continue that trend moving forward?

Will the defense play at an elite level?

The Blackshirts have played well for much of the season, with moments of dominance like the third quarter against Ohio State or the first half against Colorado. Outside of the OSU loss, Nebraska’s defeats have coincided with less-than-stellar games from its defense with Indiana and UCLA both putting together strong first halves in recent weeks.

The Huskers often speak about having a “standard� to their defensive play, which they feel the need to uphold. Playing to that standard and playing at an elite level could be the solution to NU’s struggles.

How does Nebraska fare on the road?

It’s never easy to go on the road, and it’s a challenge Nebraska will need to conquer with two of its final three games being played away from home. Under Rhule’s leadership, the Huskers are just 2-6 on the road.

Do the Huskers make a bowl game?

The biggest question of them all facing the Nebraska football team right now, it’s difficult to say for certain. An opportunity exists in next week’s trip to a USC team which has made a change at quarterback with its record standing at 4-5. NU’s final home opponent, Wisconsin, has its own identity issues on offense as its young quarterback finds its footing.

Should Nebraska fail to get the job done in either of those games, it’d take a 5-6 record into its annual Black Friday matchup with Iowa. The Hawkeyes denied a five-win Husker team that opportunity in both 2019 and 2023 and would love to do so again.

A bowl game is certainly not out of Nebraska’s grasp yet, but its opportunities to secure a sixth win are getting harder and harder as time ticks down on its 2024 season.