Yes, it's a serious and likely stressful stretch coming up over the next few weeks for the Nebraska football program.
Outside of Memorial Stadium, there's talk about Husker football coach Scott Frost's job status beyond the 2021 season, and that talk has escalated quickly during Nebraska's three-game losing streak that turned a season of promise into a 3-6 mark with three games to go.
On the practice field, though, there's been a lighter topic of conversation this week.
Just beyond where NU does its outdoor practice work, Hausmann Construction erected a giant blue tower crane over the past few days.
As Frost talked with reporters Thursday, workers were putting the finishing touches on the massive crane, walking on the scaffolding-like arm hundreds of feet above the ground.
"You know, the talk all week has been the guys up on this giant crane," Frost said with a smile. "It looks like they’re about 300 feet off the ground. No chance I would be up there. I’m not scared of a lot, but heights don’t do it for me."
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NU athletic director Trev Alberts said recently that, overall, the Huskers' $155 million North Stadium expansion project is proceeding on time and on budget. On the actual footprint where the Husker football team's new operations center, locker rooms and weight rooms — along with departmentwide services such as academics, nutrition and more — will be, there are a couple of areas where pieces are starting to go into place.
The project itself was announced in September 2019, just before the Huskers hosted Ohio State. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work didn't actually begin until this summer. An on-time finish would mean having the football program moved into the new digs before the 2023 season.
"It’s just good to see the progress," Frost said. "There’s going to have to be a lot of things that come together here for Nebraska to be elite like everybody wants it to be again. That’s a big part of it. I know we’re grateful to the people that have contributed to make it happen."
And the people who don't mind climbing the tower crane ladder on a daily basis.
Photos: In awe of Memorial Stadium
1923 stadium

A then-Nebraska record crowd of 43,000 packs Memorial Stadium for the Huskers' 14-7 upset of Notre Dame on Nov. 10, 1923. Some parts of the new stadium were still under construction.
1950 stadium

Aerial view of the UNL Stadium in 1950.
1959 stadium

Aerial view of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, March 23, 1959.
Memorial Stadium 1965

Seating beyond the north and south end zones pushed capacity to nearly 53,000 seats in 1965.
1971 stadium

Aerial view of the UNL Stadium on 9/23/1971.
1991 stadium

Aerial view of Memorial Stadium in 1991.
Stadium in 1994

The pumped crowd for the UCLA game in 1994.
1999 stadium

A new skybox towers over a new playing surface as the usual sea of red takes in Nebraska's first home game of the 1999 season.
2005 stadium

Aerial of Memorial Stadium, Ed Weir Track and site of the new Tom and Nancy Osborne Athletic Complex as seen from the east side in 2005.
2006 stadium

Memorial Stadium and environs in 2006.
2008 Spring Game crowd

More than 80,000 fans were on hand as the Red and White teams entered Memorial Stadium for the start of the Spring Game in April 2008.
2009 stadium

A sellout crowd watches a fireworks display in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., Sept. 26, 2009, as they mark the 300th consecutive sellout, an NCAA record, following Nebraska's 55-0 rout of Louisiana-Lafayette.
Memorial Stadium 2009

The University of Nebraska Cornhuskers sold-out Memorial Stadium for the 300th consecutive time, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.
Red-White Spring Game, 4.16.2011

A crowd of more than 66,000 attended the Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium, Saturday, April 16, 2011.
Aerial of stadium in 2012

Memorial Stadium (top) and Pinnacle Bank Arena looking northeast, April 25, 2012.
2013

Red-White Spring Game, 4.11.15

Husker fans turned out in force to watch the debut of the Riley era at the annual Red-White Spring Game 2015 at Memorial Stadium. More than 60,000 tickets have already been sold for this year's game on April 15.
2015 stadium

Digital Sky's drone got this picture from Memorial Stadium on July 27, 2015.
Husker fans, 11/24/17

Husker fans release balloons following the Huskers' first-quarter touchdown against Iowa in November 2017.
Ohio State vs. Nebraska, 10/14/17

The Cornhusker Marching Band performs their pregame routine at Memorial Stadium, on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2017.
Red-White Spring Game, 4/21/18

A packed stadium watches the first half of the Red-White Spring Game on Saturday, April 21, 2018, at Memorial Stadium.
2019 fireworks

The Nebraska State Patrol captured this photo Sept. 28, 2019, of the stadium as fireworks went off before the Husker game.
Guard flyover at stadium - 2019

The Nebraska National Guard did a flyover of Memorial Stadium on Nov. 16, 2019, with two Blackhawk helicopters.
2019 stadium

Memorial Stadium is shown with colorful skies creeping in during a 2019 game.
Contact the writer at pgabriel@journalstar.com or 402-473-7439. On Twitter @HuskerExtraPG.