Colorado State was willing to pay only about half as much as Nebraska, but the Rams are in a down cycle and nowhere near the level of the Huskers.
Tingey said he was surprised when Kramer told him he wanted to play the Huskers and let his players experience Memorial Stadium and the history a program that has won five national championships.
"I said, 'Coach, are you kidding me? You want to go to Nebraska?'
"He said, 'Oh, yeah. We don't want to go to Fort Collins. That's boring. There's nothing fun about that. We're going to lose anyway, so let's go to a place with heritage and tradition like Nebraska.'"