If you didn't get to see Nebraska play Washington on Sept. 18 in Seattle, you'll get a chance to see it two more times on Dec. 30 in San Diego and on Sept. 25, 2011 in Lincoln.

In a surprise development on Sunday evening, the Huskers (10-3) were awarded a bid to the Holiday Bowl for the second year in a row and they'll play a Washington Husky (6-6) team they beat 56-21 earlier this season.

Most people expected NU to get an invite to the Insight Bowl in Tempe against Iowa because of the rematch factor and strong alumni support Nebraska has in the Phoenix area, but speculation is the Big 12 didn't want an "all Big Ten" game.

Nobody from Nebraska was made available to comment about the invite to the Holiday Bowl because of the late nature of Sunday's announcement.

Despite the fact NU played in San Diego last year and they have already played Washington this year, assistant Holiday Bowl Executive Director Mark Neville said they are thrilled to have the Huskers in their game again.

"It was interesting coming into today we really had no idea which team we were going to be getting on either side," Neville said. "With the Insight Bowl ahead of us we knew we were going to be getting Missouri or Nebraska. Both would've been great options for us and both with would've been great opportunities for the Insight Bowl.

"To get Nebraska back again for us we are ecstatic. This might be the last time we could get them in quite a while now. To bring back the Husker Nation to San Diego is something we are very excited about."

In 2009 head coach Bo Pelini's team won the Holiday bowl by shutting out Arizona 33-0.

The Huskers and Wildcats sold out Qualcomm Stadium last year with 65,354 people in attendance, and Neville is optimistic they can do it again this year.

So how do you convince Nebraska fans to come back to San Diego again to watch them play a team they already handily beat in September?

"No. 1 it's San Diego," Neville said. "San Diego is a great town to come and visit during the holiday season and it's a nice little vacation. Secondly, with Washington that team has improved during the year winning their final three games. Washington is fired up. They are ready for this ball game. I think it's going to be a pretty good football game in San Diego and I think it will be pretty electric. I think the Huskies are going to represent very well down here and it's going to be a very electric atmosphere."

Nebraska will receive an allotment of 11,000 tickets for the Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl. The remaining tickets in Nebraska's allotment will be available to the general public at Huskers.com, beginning at 8 a.m. Monday morning.

The Athletic Ticket Office (Stadium Drive Parking Garage) will also be open on Monday morning for over-the-counter sales, and can be reached by phone at 1-800-8-BIG-RED. Tickets for the game range in price from $30 to $75.