• Video Below: See Carl Pelini, Brandon Kinnie, Eric Martin and Ben Cotton talk after practice

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LINCOLN — In the heat of an isolation play, Tyler Legate's not going to fixate on whether the guy he's trying to blast is on scholarship. And the guy trying to blast Legate isn't either.

But if you're a Nebraska walk-on from Neligh, you turned down a scholarship at South Dakota to play fullback at NU for free, and your parents work extra jobs to help you pay for the right to do that, a scholarship is a real achievement. Not necessarily validation — that comes from teammates — but a kind of consummation of purpose.

“It's always in the back of your head,” Legate said. “You so want to do it.”

On Thursday, the senior was one of four Husker walk-ons to get a scholarship. The others were senior defensive back Lance Thorell, senior running back Austin Jones and junior long snapper P.J. Mangieri.

“These four young men are very deserving of being placed on scholarship,” head coach Bo Pelini said in a statement. “They come from different backgrounds and different circumstances, but each of them represents what Nebraska football is all about.

“They have worked hard and done the right things on and off the field. The walk-on program has been a vital part of the success here for decades, and it will continue to be very important for us into the future.”

Pelini has now awarded 10 scholarships to walk-on players since his arrival in 2008. One of them — kicker Alex Henery — was an All-American.

The coach pulled the team together after practice Thursday for its usual post-workout chat on the fields just east of the Hawks Championship Center. Then Jeff Jamrog, the associate athletic director for football, walked out on the field, handed Pelini a white piece of paper, and the coach announced the new scholarship players.

“Well, I've got a list of a couple guys who are going to be put on scholarship,” Pelini told them.

Mangieri's known for a few months that he was going on scholarship. But he had to wait for official word.

“I had to be real patient — what was it, two years?” he said. “But shoot, patience is a virtue and virtue never hurts you.”

Jones, Legate and Thorell didn't know. And neither did any of their teammates. Financial futures changed on the spot.

“I was stunned,” Thorell said.

So he smiled. Then he just had to sit there and let it sink in. Junior safety Courtney Osborne grabbed him for a hug.

“He shook me up!” Thorell said. “He was more pumped than I showed.”

Legate was first congratulated by senior safety Austin Cassidy, whom Pelini awarded with a scholarship last year. Legate joins a long line of NU walk-on fullbacks who eventually ascended to scholarship status. He called his parents, Roger and Rosemary, right after the news.

So did Thorell, who caught his dad, Mike, on a farm near his hometown of Loomis. Thorell's dad heartily congratulated him, then said he'd talk to his son more a little later. There was work to be done.

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• Video: Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini talks with the media after Friday's practice:

• Video: Brandon Kinnie, Ben Cotton and Eric Martin all talk after practice: