Nebraska football has been dealt a crushing blow as Matt Rhule announced on Monday that starting running back Gabe Ervin Jr., No. 2 running back Rahmir Johnson and standout freshman defensive back Dwight Bootle all suffered season-ending injuries in the Huskers' win over Northern Illinois on Saturday.

It's not necessarily a fatal blow for the Huskers and their goals for the 2023 season, but it will certainly make things harder to move the ball on an offense that had already been going through severe struggles until NIU came to town.

RELATED >> Nebraska Depth Chart: Several key changes ahead of Louisiana Tech

Nevertheless, Nebraska will have to press forward with a new trio of running backs at the top of the depth chart. We have a breakdown of those three guys below with Rhule' analysis on each running back and our own thoughts on all three.

First, though, a few additional injury updates: