Posted by Chip Patterson

When former Nebraska quarterback Cody Green left the Cornhuskers, he called the decision one of the "hardest things I've ever done." With that decision out of the way, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound signal caller from Dayton, Texas must now decide where to take his talents -- and there are some equally big names on the list.

Green told ESPN.com's Joe Schad on Thursday he plans to visit USC "as early as next week." Several members of the Trojans' coaching staff reportedly have a positive relationship with Green, and the former Cornhusker has them on the list as potential destinations. Green has already visited Tulsa and Kansas State and will take a look at Baylor as well. Nebraska's move to the Big Ten helped open up these Big 12 opportunities near his hometown, but Green has not made it clear which way he is leaning.

2010 saw an already crowded quarterback position become even more competitive with freshman Taylor Martinez emerging as the latest dual-threat star in the Nebraska backfield. Green started in two victories for the Cornhuskers last fall, including the division-clinching victory over Colorado. But at the end of spring practice, Martinez was still the number one quarterback, and Green realized that now is the time to search out other opportunities.

Green told Schad he plans to enroll in a new school in time to join the team for fall camp. Most FBS schools will start their fall camp on or around Aug. 1.

Posted by Jerry Hinnen

Like a lot of high-profile quarterbacks this season (oh hey Denard Robinson ), the health of Taylor Martinez has been something of a weekly guessing game ever since he injured his ankle in a win against Missouri . But after "T-Magic" was a late scratch from last week's barnburning 31-30 win over Iowa State , it appears there won't be a whole lot of guessing this week : he's in:

Nebraska offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said he expects freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez to be 100 percent for Saturday’s game against Kansas.

“That’s the plan right now,” Watson said Tuesday. “He practiced yesterday, did a good job, moved around. We take it day to day and keep increasing the workload.”

The Huskers (8-1, 4-1 in the Big 12) probably won’t use the wildcat in Saturday’s 6 p.m. game against Kansas (3-6, 1-4) at Memorial Stadium if Martinez is ready to go.

“When you have Taylor Martinez you don’t need it,” Watson said. “You have a healthy Taylor and he is our most explosive player. You would rather have that explosiveness, making those reads, so we didn’t have to use it.”

Martinez's health is of even greater importance since backup Zac Lee , who relieved Martinez in the Huskers' lone loss of the season against Texas, is also banged-up.

Or at least, it would be if the Huskers weren't facing Kansas , either the worst team in the Big 12 or the team that needed a 35-point fourth-quarter comeback to beat the worst team in the Big 12, Colorado . If the combination of Cody Green and wildcat quarterback Rex Burkhead worked well enough to eke out a victory over ISU on the road, they would almost certainly be enough against the Jayhawks at home.

All the same, the sooner Martinez returns, the sooner he knocks off the rust that the Huskers won't be able to afford in next week's tricky trip to Texas A&M , much less a Big 12 championship showdown with Oklahoma or Oklahoma State . Even against Kansas, Nebraska needs him back to 100 percent if at all possible. Good thing that appears to be the case ... this week.

Posted by Tom Fornelli

1. T-Magic has a lot of tricks left to learn.   Seems somebody left their top hat and magic wand back in the dorm room this morning, because Taylor Martinez had no answer for the Texas defense in Lincoln on Saturday.  Martinez only had 21 yards on 13 carries and had completed 4-of-12 passes for 63 yards before getting yanked by Bo Pelini in favor of Zac Lee.  The good news for Martinez is that Lee didn't exactly do anything to take away his starting job. 

2. Texas' defense is still pretty good, the offense, however, is not.   Hey, listen, the way things have gone for the Longhorns this season, they have no reason not to be thrilled after picking up a big win on the road against Nebraska.   That being said, unless they start picking things up on offense, whatever slim hopes they have of winning the Big 12 are nothing more than a pipe dream.  The good news is that the 'Horns finally found some semblance of a running game, as they did gash a stout Nebraska defense for 209 yards on the ground.  The biggest surprise being Garrett Gilbert 's 71 yards and two touchdowns.  Still, that 4-of-16 passes for 62 yards needs a lot of work.

3. I still don't know what to make of Missouri.   I made a comment about this on Twitter on Saturday afternoon, and caught a lot of flak from Missouri fans over it.  Listen, I don't think Missouri is a bad football team, it's just I don't know how good they are.  I'm sorry, but beating Texas A&M just doesn't impress me all that much because the Aggies are horrible.  So far the Tigers most impressive win is against an Illinois team that is 3-3.  Other than that it's wins against teams like McNeese State, San Diego State and Miami (OH).   Next week's date with Oklahoma will give us all a better idea of how good this Missouri team actually is.

4. Jerrod Johnson just isn't working.   It's time for a quarterback change in College Station.  I don't care what Johnson has done in the past, or what everybody thought he'd do this season, the fact is the kid has played horribly.  Maybe Mike Sherman is just worried about losing his job and doesn't want to give the ball to another quarterback at this point in the season, but trust me, staying with Johnson at this point is only going to help ensure he's out of work at the end of the season.

5. More people need to learn about Justin Blackmon.  The Oklahoma State wide receiver has been a monster this season, and his name should be thrown out there when it comes to Heisman talk.  He has 48 catches for 748 yards and 11 touchdowns this season, including a 10-reception 207-yard performance against Texas Tech on Saturday.  His worst game of the season (yardage wise) came in the Cowboys' opener.  Blackmon only had 8 catches for 125 yards and 3 touchdowns that day.