Since 1962, Memorial Stadium, which aside from Omaha and Lincoln holds more people than the population of any city in Nebraska, has sold out for an NCAA-record 315 consecutive games.

Joel Foreman, senior captain and guard of the No. 9 MSU football team, knows when the Spartans take the field Saturday against No. 13 Nebraska, his teammates must win two battles.

“Obviously it’s going to be a great environment,” Foreman said. “They have a great atmosphere and Nebraska football is everything to them so we know we got to go there and not only win on the field, but beat the crowd as well.”

Foreman also knows that is easier said than done. The dedication of the Huskers fans is unique. There’s not many places in college football where an entire fan base will remove their shoes prior to each kickoff and wave them above their heads.

And although most fan bases dress in their team’s colors, it’s rare a crowd of 81,067 people all wear the exact same scarlet red and cause the stadium to look like a Sea of Red from any angle.

Senior quarterback Kirk Cousins said he grew up watching Nebraska football and after practice Tuesday recalled Husker greats such as Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips, Ahman Green and Eric Crouch.

He said watching Huskers football inspired him to want to play for a big-time college football program like MSU.

“(There’s) a lot of tradition, a lot of talent, incredible following in terms of the fan base of Nebraska and it’s exciting to be a part of,” said Cousins of the team’s first meeting as rivals in the Big Ten conference. “I didn’t think when I came here in 2007 I’d ever play a game against Nebraska or at Nebraska within conference play, but certainly it will be exciting.”

Asked if he would take the field early to take in the atmosphere, Cousins declined. He said his team is on a business trip, needing this win to get through a brutal October schedule — which included Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“I don’t want to get too caught up in being a tourist and looking around,” he said. “I think it’s important to just focus on what happens in between the lines … I’ll have other years as a fan when I get old that I can go back and look as a tourist if I want.”

With both teams at 6-1 and the Spartans undefeated in Big Ten play, the teams’ first conference meeting comes with heavy implications. Both are undefeated in the Legends division, so the winner looks to be in the driver’s seat to the inaugural Big Ten championship game.

It’s a lot of pressure, but that’s nothing new to the Spartans, who in the past three weeks defeated two undefeated teams ranked nationally in the top 11.

Junior defensive tackle Jerel Worthy is braced for an electric crowd, but he said the team remains confident having defeated the Buckeyes in front of their home fans.

“Everybody’s going to be used to the loud cheers and everything like that so a lot of guys won’t get overwhelmed,” Worthy said. “As long as we go in there and stay within ourselves and concentrate how we know how and just go in there and play football, we’ll have fun and come out with a win.”