Casey Thompson will suit up against Wisconsin

Casey Thompson will be back.

The Nebraska starting quarterback is going to play against Wisconsin. Huskers interim coach Mickey Joseph said on Wednesday night during his radio show that Thompson was trending toward a return, but Joseph officially confirmed the quarterback's status during his Thursday press conference.

"Unless he wakes up tomorrow and he says, 'My whole elbow's numb' then he's gonna play," Joseph said. "Now, I try to be honest with you guys and not hide anything because people say, 'Hey, we don't know if Casey's playing.' Well they're gonna find out after the first snap. They're gonna find out when he's warming up. So it's no secret. It's football.

"I'm just mad at everybody who thinks it's a secret or like (Wisconsin) is gonna prepare any differently. There hasn't been any changes with the play calling. That guy's a smart guy over there. So he's gonna say, 'Hey, there haven't been any changes in the play calling, so I'm gonna prepare the same way.' And I would do the same."

Thompson has not played since leaving midway through the second quarter against Illinois with a nerve injury to his throwing hand. He wanted to play, doing his best to return for the Huskers' games against Minnesota and then Michigan. But as Thompson continued to deal with nerve issues and numbness in his hand, Joseph's final decision was to sit him out in the best interest of Thompson's long-term health.

Thompson, though, has progressed through his injury and has practiced all week ahead of Saturday's matchup with Wisconsin, including throwing the ball and participating in team drills.

"He threw the ball well (Thursday)," Joseph said. "Hope he wakes up (Friday) feeling the same way, hope he wakes up feeling good. But the last three days have been enough for me to see. ... It was a matter of him feeling better, making sure that he could play at a high level. We didn't target this game. It was on Casey and how Casey felt."

Thompson will start against the Badgers (5-5, 3-4 Big Ten) when the ball kicks off at 11 a.m. on Saturday. It is a crucial return if the Huskers (3-7, 2-5) are to put an end to their four-game losing streak. Thompson has missed the last 10-plus quarters of action, and Nebraska has scored just 16 total points and put up one touchdown with Chubba Purdy as the starter and Logan Smothers as the second-string quarterback.

"Casey's played a lot of football. It's not his first rodeo. He's played a lot of football, so we can pick up where we left off at," Joseph said. "(His return) gives you a lot of confidence right now with the offensive guys that he's back and that we can push the ball down the field and that he's also gonna make sure we get in the right plays. He's gonna be able to line the running back up. He's the starting quarterback, getting him back (is important). We've been playing with our second guy, now third guy, the last couple weeks."

Watch Mickey Joseph's Thursday lightning-round press conference below: