Saturday morning, with the harvest moon still visible over the western wall of Memorial Stadium, members of the Cornhusker Marching Band emerged from winding pathways of campus to begin their pre-game rehearsal.

“Straight legs! Straight legs out there, like a 1932 German war movie,” the drum major said, his voice booming over the stadium speakers.

In the wake of two disappointing games, University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s marching band members started rehearsal the usual six hours prior to kickoff. This week, the goal was to help the roar return to the Sea of Red.

Band members may be the ultimate super fans. For one hour of academic credit per semester, they spend more than seven hours a week rehearsing, and they devote entire Saturdays to supporting Husker fans and players. 

Many days stretch into nights. 

Sometimes band members don’t leave the Westbrook Music Building on campus until after midnight on game days — they sweep up the building before they head home.

Ashley Effken, a trumpet player and senior entomology major from Friend, said nothing can prepare someone for being a member of the marching band.

“The first time I came on the field with 85,000 screaming fans, I was scared out of my mind,” she said. “I don’t think I played a note. I knew no one would notice that, so I just concentrated on where I was supposed to be on the field.”

For senior music-education student and band drum major Joe Manglitz, the opportunity to be in the band was the deciding factor in his choice to go to UNL.

“I was accepted at the United States Air Force Academy,” said Manglitz, an alumnus of Lincoln High School. “I came to UNL because of the band. I knew nothing could match that opportunity.”

Band Director Anthony M. Falcone is clear from the beginning.

“I tell the students we are 100 percent advocates for the team, no matter what the opponent, or what the score,” Falcone said.  “If we lose, the sun still comes up tomorrow.” 

Band members must audition for their sought-after spots every year. Two-hundred and eighty-eight students make the cut.

On Saturday, before a cleat hit the turf for kickoff, “the pride of all Nebraska”took the field. A drum major stood sentinel at the 50-yard-line, left arm in salute, shako atop his head, plume blowing in the wind. 

Soon the salute turned to a fist pumping in the air to lead the band, lined up in perfect formation behind him, in the clarion call,“Go Big Red.”

As the Huskers began play, band members took their places in the East Stadium, drum majors wrapping careful feet around ladders elevating them above the crowd.

Even as Iowa State prepared to make its first score of the game, two saxophone players crossed instruments in a likeness of the signature crossbones sign for the Blackshirts defense.

At the end of the first quarter, the prospects for a Husker rout against Iowa State looked grim. 

“You’ve gotta keep playing,” drum major Brian Krienke of Pierce said of the potential for more of last week’s boos. “It’s our job. We try to cover any boos and keep the band going almost continuously.”

By the time the drum line, hidden behind aviator sunglasses, led the band in the James Bond theme song in the fourth quarter, it seemed the game would be won.

On cue, fans began streaming out of the stands.

Finally, after the win was secured, the team gathered at the East Stadium to join the band in a final version of “Hail Varsity.”

While all the players may not have known every word to the fight song, their thank you message was still conveyed to the band.    

“It’s Nebraska,” said drum major Krienke. “I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be on a Saturday.”

Reach Lisa Munger at 473-2646 or lmunger@journalstar.com.