PASADENA, Calif. -- Nebraska cornerback Keyuo Craver's quiet days are over.

And anybody who doesn't believe that need only listen to Craver's halftime speech during Nebraska's only loss of the season.

"I don't hold my tongue as much as I used to. If I see we need to work on something I'm going to let it be heard," Craver said Sunday outside the Rose Bowl, where Nebraska will play top-ranked Miami on Thursday.

So what did the defensive co-captain say at halftime during the Cornhuskers' 62-36 loss at Colorado?

"I couldn't repeat it," Craver said. "I just said we were getting our butts handed to us and we were getting kicked up and down the field. I didn't come here to lose and we needed to change things around."

That's the PG version, but Craver's point was clear: The Huskers weren't doing the things that won the first 11 games of the season.

That can't happen Thursday when Nebraska (11-1) plays Miami (11-0) if the Huskers want to win a sixth national title.

Craver, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound senior from Texas, is long past any shyness he felt playing in the shadow of veteran defensive backs Mike and Ralph Brown as a freshman in 1998.

That seems like a very long time ago.

"I don't ever want to compare one guy to another, but he's a guy that's done a tremendous amount for the team. He's accomplished a great deal," secondary coach George Darlington said.

Darlington, in his 29th season on Nebraska staff, has seen plenty of players come through Nebraska. Although he won't compare Craver to any of the past Huskers, Craver's statistics take care of that on their own.

Craver didn't bother with a redshirt as a freshman and played in each game as the Huskers went 8-4. He had the coveted "Blackshirt," which goes only to Nebraska's starting defenders and a select few reserves, before the season was over and took over as a starter as a sophomore in 1999.

Craver has 192 career tackles, seven interceptions -- including three this season -- and is second in Nebraska history with 41 pass break-ups. This year his 60 tackles are the third most on the team.

He's scored touchdowns on an interception and two blocked punts in his career and returned 21 punts for 246 yards this season.

"He's been a player that we've asked to do a tremendous amount of things. He's blocked kicks. He's returned kicks. He's played in the secondary. He's a very multitalented guy," Darlington said. "We've asked him to be involved in a tremendous number of different activities. He's never balked at doing any of it."

Craver isn't concerned with where he is on the field, as long as it's playing. He has started 38 straight games, but knows his 39th will be by far the one he remembers most.

"This is the national title game. Your goal is to win that ring," he said.

Craver is enjoying life in the Los Angeles area. He's been to Disneyland, a Lakers game, got a picture and a hug from actress Heather Locklear and shook hands with Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal.

"I came up to his belly button so everybody was laughing at me, but it doesn't matter because I got to shake his hand," Craver said.

He also heard a few rounds of "boos" as the Huskers were introduced to the crowd and shown on the big screen at the Laker game, a reminder that Nebraska is not necessarily the most popular choice to play the Hurricanes.

The controversy that exploded when the Bowl Championship Series put Nebraska in the title game despite the Huskers' embarrassing loss to close the season hasn't gone away.

Neither are the Huskers, Craver said.

"I think we needed something like that. We got our butts kicked and we're not as good as we may have thought we were," Craver said. "Having a negative thing like that happen and the way that it happened, you can't even explain it. I got on our players and I got on myself.

"Nobody's going to lay down because we have this 'N' on our helmet."