LINCOLN — The tales of Austin Cassidy and Bronson Marsh aren't all that different.

Cassidy was a star quarterback at Lincoln Southwest who led his team to an unbeaten regular season in 2006, rushing for 1,507 yards as a senior. Cassidy then walked on at Nebraska and was converted to a safety.

Marsh led Millard South to the Class A state championship in 2009 and passed for 2,415 yards and 28 touchdowns during his final year. He was an NU grayshirt last fall, enrolled in January and started his move to safety in spring practice.

Cassidy, however, is a senior and returning starter for the Huskers, while Marsh is just trying to begin his climb.

"He's just competing," Cassidy said. "All those young guys ... they're in their books, they're trying to get better, asking the right questions and just trying to learn. It's a little different now because they finally get to see themselves on film, so that's helping all of them learn.

"The biggest thing is being able to learn when they're not in, because they're not always going to get the reps that the ones and twos get."

Cassidy was able to surrender the glory of playing quarterback for any chance at NU and is sure Marsh will be able to do the same after passing for more career yards than any other high school quarterback in Nebraska high school history.

"I think he's probably made that transition, too," Cassidy said. "I don't think it's been an issue for him.

"He doesn't have any problem sticking his nose in there, and obviously has all the physical tools."

Senior fullback lauds young backs' potential

As a fullback, Tyler Legate gets to see the potential of NU's three freshman I-backs up close. As a senior, he understands their ups and downs through 10 practices.

"They're good, but they have a long ways to go, too," Legate said. "We all do, though, as an offense. But they have the talent to be good, we all know that."

Aaron Green, Braylon Heard and Ameer Abdullah are trying to take advantage of possible opportunities behind clear No. 1 Rex Burkhead.

"We're going to have some depth," Legate said. "It's going to be a good race to see who actually gets on the field."

Interchangeable roles for the wide receivers

Offensive coordinator Tim Beck said he and the staff have warned the wide receivers not to get comfortable with one particular spot in the lineup.

Beck's not going to fill out a depth chart for some time, so he's hoping his players will work to learn the X, Y and slot receiver positions. Do everything well, Beck said.

"We alerted them to just keep playing different positions so they don't get locked into one spot," he said. "Whoever our best three, four or five guys are, they're going to play."

BTN preview for NU

BTN will air its 30-minute show on Nebraska on Tuesday night as part of its Big Ten Football Preview Tour. The Husker segment, and previews on following nights, all begin at 7 p.m. CDT.

Dave Revsine, Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith of the BTN were in Lincoln last Wednesday and Thursday in preparation for the preview.

The Nebraska preview will be replayed several times starting Tuesday night and running through Wednesday morning.

— Rich Kaipust and Jon Nyatawa