The Nebraska football team knows that if it wants to improve its defense overall, it needs to start with its defensive line. In order to do this, the Huskers have been going after the best of the best when it comes to lineman all over the country. It appears they've made some inroads with at least one big body defender and if the Cornhuskers can keep up the pressure, they might be able to steal one right out from under the noses of the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Nebraska football team has a lot of competition

It shouldn't come as a surprise that four-star defensive tackle Calvin Avery is being sought by quite a few schools.

The Bishop Dunne player who weighs in at about 6-1, 315 pounds recently reported on Twitter he had received his 18th offer to play for a school, with a large number of those offers being from power five conference programs. One has to wonder if the Nebraska football team going up against all those teams might actually help them, considering they have one of the most organized and dependable recruiting departments in the country.

As has been the case with most of the team's big recruits on the defensive line, John Parrella has been named the lead recruiter, though the Huskers are going to have to find a way to replace Brian Stewart who has since moved onto the Rice Owls.

The Huskers main competition

If there is one team that is going to stand in the way of the Nebraska football team getting Calvin Avery into Lincoln, it will indeed be the Oklahoma Sooners. By all indications at this point in the recruiting process, the battle for the defensive tackle's services is a two team race.

The Huskers were one of the first schools to offer the 35th ranked player in the state of Texas, but he's seemingly spent a bit more time in and around the Oklahoma campus.

If there's one interesting tidbit about this player's recruiting, it's that none of the big Texas schools appear to be making much noise. Houston, Baylor, TCU, Texas and Texas A&M have all offered the player who recorded 68 tackles and 12 sacks a year ago, but they're also bringing up the rear at the moment.