John Cook is a self-admitted Halloween detractor. The Nebraska volleyball coach has never been much of a fan, dating back to childhood. The candy, costumes and chicanery of trick-or-treating has flowed throughout the week. But Cook?

He’s pretty much all business as the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Huskers (21-0, 12-0 Big Ten) make the long trip for a brief East Coast swing to face No. 16 Penn State on Friday (7:30 p.m. CT) and Rutgers on Sunday (12 p.m. CT) in a two-game road test.

It’s a quick turnaround between Nebraska and Rutgers (10-12, 2-10) after Nebraska swept both Maryland and the Scarlet Knights last Friday and Saturday, respectively, to keep momentum following the mega-match win over Wisconsin the weekend prior.

There’s been a longer layoff since the Huskers and Nittany Lions (15-6, 9-3) squared off in what was also a Nebraska sweep on Oct. 14 in Lincoln.

But it doesn’t matter. Anytime, anywhere, Cook believes his team will be in for a dogfight.

“It was a very close match,” Cook said of the last Nebraska-Penn State bout. “It’s gonna come down to a couple big plays. That’s what these matches always come down to.”

Cook said he’s aware that tickets for Friday night’s match are selling for around $5 a pop in an effort to get as many fans in the crowd and make it as hostile of a road environment as possible. But it’s nothing new for the Huskers.

“Those are good environments. I think our players would rather play in those environments,” Cook said.

It’s a long way over to Happy Valley. But that’s part of the deal that comes with being in a nationwide conference, and “one of the reasons we go to Stanford,” Cook says, is to prepare for lengthy road trips like this upcoming weekend.

Cook’s preview of Penn State and the trek over to the East Coast was one snippet of his media availability yesterday. Here are three more key takeaways from his weekly Tuesday tidbits at the podium: