LINCOLN, Neb - Nebraska and Northwestern duel this weekend at Memorial Stadium, in a battle of teams with identical records, in a matchup that has a history of coming down to the wire.

Meeting with reporters on Monday, Huskers Head Coach Matt Rhule broke the news Nebraska fans had been chomping at the bit to know: Who will be the Huskers starting quarterback moving forward? The answer: Kearney native Heinrich Haarberg, who will make his fifth straight start on Saturday afternoon.

“Jeff is ready to go at a moment’s notice, we’ve mixed him in with the one’s, we have a great package to work two [quarterbacks], I’m not saying we’d do that, but I have no problem with the way he works,” Rhule said. “But Heinrich’s played well… He’s done some good things so he’ll be the starter.”

Haarberg leads Nebraska in rushing with 352 yards and three touchdown’s. The Kearney Catholic alum has also thrown four touchdown’s and two interceptions. One key for Rhule this week, and the rest of the year, is not not look ahead past their opponent and going 1-0 each time they take the field.

“I’m not worried about the big picture. I think that’s the problem with Nebraska football for the last several years and part of why we’ve gone 1-5 down the stretch,” Rhule said. “We can’t be at things outside the program, focus one going 1-0 each week. Evaluating the offensive and defensive coaches, all of this stuff outside the program, I’m going to do my best to keep it from infiltrating the program.”

Nebraska will get a key piece back on defense, in the form of senior linebacker Luke Reimer, who missed the Michigan and Illinois games with an infection. In just four games this season, Reimer has 10 solo tackles, 2.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, but Rhule says the Huskers are happy to have him back for more than just his on the field product.

“Luke is one of THE voices,” Rhule said. “I texted him before the Illinois game, ‘Hey bro, wish you were with us’, I just feel so bad for what happened to him. He said he already texted the guys, said they were ready to go.. He’s a voice that the guys listen to.”

Lastly, Rhule wants to spread the ball around more on offense, specifically, in the form of Billy Kemp IV. With Marcus Washington out for the season with a torn ACL, Rhule is looking to all offensive playmakers to step up.

“That as a focus for us last week because Billy is a dynamic player and we have to get him the ball more,” Rhule said. “We need to get Thomas [Fidone] the ball more, have to get [Joshua] Fleets the ball more. When you go through what we’ve gone through, you just are focused on going 1-0 each week. You get to the bye week, you can sit back and say ‘hey, who do we need to get involved’, think the guys have done a good job with that.

In addition to spreading the ball around more, one player who will make a start on Saturday, is Lincoln native Malachi Coleman. The wideout will start for the second time in his freshman season. 

Huskers and Wildcats kick off at 2:30 central time and 1:30 mountain on Big Ten Network.