Given the current state of the program right now and the seemingly foregone conclusion that Mike Riley's tenure at Nebraska is all but finished, the mentality of this team is likely the most fragile it's been yet.

The Huskers are now 4-6 overall and 3-4 in conference play, and outside of going to a bowl game there really aren't many carrots left dangling in front of them for motivation.

That's why after NU's loss at Minnesota Riley said the next two weeks would be a matter of the coaches and players competing for their own pride. Do the Huskers have enough pride and resolve to keep a terrible season from getting even worse?

The biggest shakeup that occurred on Saturday was starting quarterback Tanner Lee being taken out of the game at halftime due an "impact migraine" he suffered during the first half.

Lee did not do interviews after the game but was seen walking out of the locker room to the team bus with no obvious signs of his injury. Riley said Lee had not been diagnosed with a concussion at the time, but would need to undergo further evaluation once the team got back to Lincoln.

The Huskers will certainly be keeping a close eye on the junior all week as they get ready to go on the road and face a stout and physical Penn State defense.

With Lee's status still unknown right now, it's a fair to wonder whether redshirt freshman Patrick O'Brien will get a lot more work with the first-team offense this week.

O'Brien came in facing an extremely difficult situation to start the third quarter. With minimal time to prepare himself mentally or physically to play in the game, O'Brien took over facing a 30-14 deficit with an ineffective running game and a porous offensive line protecting him.

He still managed to complete 12-of-18 passes for 137 yards and lead a fourth-quarter touchdown drive, but was also sacked six times in only two quarters.

It certainly wasn't the worst debut, all things considered, and even if Lee is cleared to play on Saturday, would the Huskers still opt to keep working O'Brien into the game in some capacity?

Nebraska is coming off a game where its defense made Minnesota's running game look like Tommie Frazier, Lawrence Phillips and Ahman Green.

The Golden Gophers had a decent rushing attack, ranking fifth in the Big Ten coming into the game, but no one expected them to run wild the way they did to the tune of 409 yards and four touchdowns.

Now the Huskers will have to try and rebound from that awful performance against arguably the best running back - and maybe best overall player - in all of college football, Penn State's Saquon Barkley.

Barkley just became the Nittany Lions' all-time leader in all-purpose yards on Saturday, and he widely regarded as a shoo-in Heisman Trophy finalist and a top-10 NFL Draft pick in 2018.

The good news for NU is that Barkley has managed a total of just 142 rushing yards over the past three games, including a mere 35 last time out vs. Rutgers. That marks the worst three-game statistical stretch of the junior's illustrious career.

Making a bowl game became the final tangible goal remaining for Nebraska weeks ago, and now the Huskers have zero room for error if they are going to keep it alive past Saturday.

With four wins and only two games remaining, the path to get to six victories and achieve bowl eligible is now blatantly clear: win at Penn State and beat Iowa at home.

That is obviously significantly easier said than done, especially after what we've seen from NU over the past month.

The players and coaches have all stressed how important it was to make a bowl game, but now it's officially put-up or shut-up time.