LINCOLN, Neb. -- Tom Banderas has lived the Nebraska football dream as a player. For four years, hes lived it as a dad.Tom was a rugged tight end with sneaky good hands -- a glorified guard, he calls himself -- for Tom Osborne-coached teams from 1985-87 that were fixtures in the top 10.His son, Josh, never wanted to go anywhere but Nebraska, and now hes winding down his senior season playing some of the best football of any linebacker the 17th-ranked Cornhuskers have had in recent years.Tom, a longtime Lincoln insurance agent, shows up at practice at least once a week, usually on Tuesdays. Afterward he and Josh, still in practice gear, meet on the field to discuss football and life.I love it, Josh said. Having him around, its always good to have family close. A lot of other guys dont get that. For Thanksgiving I get to go home. Other guys are from eight hours away. I love him coming down and talking, and he gets to learn a little about whats going on and get the inside, which I know he likes.When Josh started playing flag football in grade school, Tom instilled in him that putting on the Husker helmet is an honor thats earned through hard work, and lots of it. Josh never took his eye off the prize, developing into a four-star recruit at Southwest High in Lincoln .Tom and Amy Banderas celebrated senior day with Josh last Saturday and then watched him make nine tackles against Maryland. Josh will start his 30th game when Nebraska closes the regular season at Iowa on Friday, and he said hes never forgotten what his dad told him.The way I put it, Tom said, is that 60 percent of that crowd in the stadium, whether 80 years old or 5 years old, would give two toes on their left foot to go down there and play a single play, Tom said. Thats the responsibility you have to those 92,000 fans, to give 250 percent on every single play. Thats your responsibility, take it or leave it.Josh has taken it and run with it. He was voted a captain in August, and his 80 tackles lead the team. Hes averaged 10.2 tackles a game from his middle linebackers spot since Oct. 15, the best six-game stretch by a Nebraska defender since Lavonte David averaged 11.5 in 2011.With 219 career tackles, hes in position to crack the top 15 at Nebraska if he keeps playing, as coach Mike Riley says, like an all-star.Hes really emerged even more this year as a real leader, and then his preparation is just about perfect, Riley said. Hes made not only tackles but really decisive kind of defining-type tackles.Josh credits his defensive linemen and fellow linebackers for keeping blockers off him, allowing him make all those stops. He said his confidence has never been higher.As a freshman he was forced to play right away because the Huskers were thin at his position. He said he wasnt ready. Even as a sophomore he struggled, which caused anxiety because he knew coach Bo Pelini had him on a short leash. He would look over his shoulder because if he made a mistake, he would go to the bench. He considered transferring.I look back, and I didnt like playing football, he said. I wasnt playing confident. I was playing scared. If I would have redshirted, that would have benefited me. That would have been good to get a year under my belt, learn the system and get a little stronger.His turning point came at the end of his sophomore season, the 2014 Holiday Bowl against USC. Pelini had been fired about three weeks earlier, and the assistants stayed on to coach the bowl game. Josh made a career-high 14 tackles.It was kind of like, `Im going to play, and I dont care. This is the last game of the season. Maybe this is going to start a new phase for me, he said. So I went out and played football like I did in high school. That flipped things.So did the hiring of Riley and linebackers coach Trent Bray. Josh wouldnt criticize how he was handled by the previous staff. He said he meshes better with the style and system of the current staff. But Tom said the importance of the coaching change cant be overstated.It was a resurrection, in a way, for his career, Tom said.Nebraska was a model of stability when Tom came to Lincoln from Oak Grove, Missouri. He appeared in 28 games and got as much joy from knocking down defensive ends in Osbornes triple-option offense as he did from catching passes. Toms time to shine came whenever quarterback Steve Taylor caught opposing defenses loading up to stop the run and saw him running wide open. Tom caught 16 passes in his career, 10 for touchdowns. In 1987, he was second in the Big Eight with six TD receptions.So who had the better career, Tom or Josh?I defer to the boy on that, Tom said, laughing.With Joshs college career two or three games from being over, Riley wonders what Tom will do come January.I just see a picture of a dad, a former player, all that, really enjoying watching his son, Riley said. We talked about it the other day when we were walking out, that the hard part for Toms going to be Joshs graduating. Hes just going to have to come down and watch the other guys practice.As it turns out, theres another Banderas, Anthony, and he would love to live the Nebraska football dream, too. Anthony just finished his junior season at Southwest High. Hes an outside linebacker whos getting looks from Kansas State and, yes, Nebraska.Tom said Anthony will show whether he has what it takes to play for the Huskers during his senior season. Meanwhile, Tom is soaking up these last few weeks of the season with Josh, who as a toddler would bumble around the house in his dads old helmet while wearing a Nebraska jersey and football pants.Thats thousands of kids in this great state of Nebraska, Tom said. But how neat is it that he was able to go ahead and earn that right to go do what I did?---More AP college football: http://collegefootball.ap.org Nike React Sale Nz . Barcelonas entertaining victory ensured the defending Spanish champions retained their share of the league lead with Atletico Madrid two rounds ahead of their meeting in the capital. Real Madrid needed a late goal by substitute Jese Rodriguez to earn a 3-2 victory at Valencia to stay in third place and three points behind its title rivals. Nike React Womens Nz . Burke is expected to miss two to three months after breaking a finger in the teams third preseason game. Tinsley, a 10-year veteran, spent the last two seasons in Utah, where the point guard averaged 3. http://www.cheapnikereactnz.com/ . Third-seeded Murray had the easiest path to victory on New Years Eve, barely breaking a sweat during his 6-0, 6-0 win over 2,129th-ranked Qatari wildcard recipient Mousa Shanan Zayed. Nike React Discount Nz . Sulaiman, 44, was chosen unanimously Tuesday in a vote by the leadership, the World Boxing Council said. Sulaiman becomes the sixth president of the organization. Nike React Cheap Nz . Their experience showed Tuesday as the No. 10 Badgers blunted a Saint Louis surge to win 63-57 and advance to face West Virginia in Wednesdays finals of the Cancun Challenge.Check out Barrie McDermott and Terry OConnors favourite hits from round 16 of Super League and the Summer Bash in Blackpool. Our legendary pundits have picked their top 10 and as per usual there are a few questionable hits, including the punch-up between Brad Singleton and Ashton Sims which saw both players banned for one game.Rhys Evans features twice for his big tackles on Zak Hardaker and Danny McGuire, as does Oldhams Michael Ward. Ward made some huge carries during the Roughyeds 25-24 loss to Swinton, one of which led to a try, while he also put in a big shift in defence.Baz and Tez certainly enjoyed their trip to Blackpool, with six of this weeks hits coming from the Summer Bash. Whos heading for the Naughty Step? These Super League players were guilty of breaking the rules this week There are two live Super League games on Sky Sports this week, starting with the meeting of Wakefield Wildcats and struggling Hull KR on Thursday night.ddddddddddddWakefields winning run was emphatically ended by Salford last Friday while Hull KR lost at Catalans, their third defeat in four Super League games.There are five fixtures on Friday and St Helens home clash with Warrington will be shown live on Sky Sports 3 HD. The Wolves bounced back from their Magic Weekend loss to Castleford with a landslide victory over Leeds. Click on the video above to watch all the featured hits... Also See: WATCH: The Naughty Step Saints v Wolves: Key battles Queensland claim Origin opener Follow @SkySportsRL ' ' '