Any concerns that Nebraska might be overlooking its final regular-season game were doused a few minutes after Bo Pelini got his first division-winning Gatorade bath.

The Nebraska coach was harping on the Cornhuskers' upcoming game against Colorado in the locker room after beating Kansas State for the division title.

And he's continued to talk about his team keeping its focus ever since.

Pelini said Monday that he won't be talking about the Cornhuskers' Dec. 5 Big 12 title game Texas until after the Colorado game on Friday.

"Texas means nothing to me right now,” Pelini said. “I told the people in the office and the coaches that I don’t want to hear about travel plans, tickets, nothing. That time will come.”

Some of Pelini's concern might be because of the Cornhuskers' sporadic effort against Kansas State. Nebraska had a workmanlike performance against the Wildcats, claiming a 17-3 victory to nail down their first division title since 2006.

Pelini immediately turned the Cornhuskers' focus to 3-8 Colorado, a struggling team that has lost five of seven conference games.

"I still think our best football is out there for us to play, but we have to keep working to get better," Pelini said. "It's an accomplishment to win the Big 12 North, but we want to make sure we turn our focus now to Colorado."

The Colorado-Nebraska rivalry marked the latter stages of the Big Eight Conference, when the schools were dominant programs. And Nebraska nosed past the Buffaloes for the most trips to the Big 12 title game after claiming their fifth title-game berth with the triumph over KSU.

Nebraska has won six of its past eight trips to Boulder, although it did lose a 65-51 game in its last trip there in 2007 in Bill Callahan's last game as coach.

“I know this is a special game to our fans and to Colorado fans,” Pelini said. "The two states are close together and this game is important to our fans in western Nebraska, and they want to have bragging rights. They make a lot of sacrifices driving a long way to see us play, and we’ve got to have their back this week.”

Pelini is concerned with his team's short week of preparation. Colorado dropped a 31-28 game at Oklahoma State last Thursay, and will benefit from a typical work week. The Cornhuskers will have their preparation time trimmed by a day.

Because of that, Pelini wants to guard against any feelings of complacency or thoughts about Texas as the Cornhuskers prepare for Colorado.

"We try to make this a day-to-day process," Pelini said. "I know that distractions are out there and people are already talking about travel and tickets. It's important that we keep our focus heading into the game. I know Colorado will be ready to play in this game."

A strong performance Friday is critical as the Cornhuskers move forward to the championship game, senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said.

"We're definitely happy with the situation and what we've accomplished. Our main goal was getting to (the title game)," Suh said. "But we have to close it out at Colorado. We want to dominate the Big 12 North, and the only way to do that is to go to Boulder and finish it out."