When you get new responsibilities, you get a pay bump.

Mickey Joseph is now the team’s head coach on an interim basis. He took over the program when athletic director Trev Alberts fired Scott Frost. Joseph was named interim head coach on Sept. 11. His new contract states that he will receive a $33,350/month stipend for the rest of the time he is the interim coach. That figure is in addition to the $600,000 yearly salary that he signed on for when he joined the staff in December.

There is an incentive for Joseph beyond auditioning for the permanent job to helping the Huskers turn around their sluggish 1-3 start. Joseph will also have the opportunity to earn bonuses. That includes $100,000 if the Huskers win or tie for the Big Ten West title, $200,000 if the Huskers play in, but don't win, the Big Ten championship game. He will earn $300,000 if the Huskers win the Big Ten championship game.

One interesting wrinkle in the updated contract is related to what happens if the Huskers select someone outside the program as the next coach. If someone other than Joseph is selected, then he immediately resumes his duties as wide receivers/passing game coordinator/associate head coach under his previous contract.

That does not mean the new coach is forced to keep Joseph. It’s extra protection for Joseph that he would receive his original buyout should he not be retained by the new coach.

The Huskers are currently on a bye week which came at a much-needed time for the program. The team has a new defensive coordinator as Bill Busch has stepped into the role for the recently fired Erik Chinander. There are still goals in front of the team to accomplish.

“Well, we control our own destiny right now,” Joseph said on Tuesday. “We have eight conference games left. We're going to compete against ourselves this week and we’ll get ready for Indiana next week. We’re going to take one stop sign at a time and the stop sign this week is Nebraska and getting Nebraska better. Next week, it will be Indiana. They understand what they can do. We told them today, the ball is going to be in your court here pretty soon. It's about what you're going to do with it.”

Nebraska will take the field next against Indiana on Oct. 1 in Lincoln with a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.

We are running a 30-day free trial promotion to Inside Nebraska that gives you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board.

CLICK THIS LINK that will take you to the sign-up page, and use promo code HUSKERS30 at signup to claim the offer. There is no expiration date to sign up for this free trial.