I've seen this theme several times, and it's undoubtedly true. K-State needs more than just a loud, electric, hostile crowd. You don't win games on emotion, you win them on focus and execution, generally. But don't discount the effect the crowd could have in this one. If the Cats get off to an early lead, the crowd's momentum could get behind them and create a feedback loop. A raucous crowd could help the team late in the game, when fatigue is setting in. But it almost certainly won't be the difference in the game. And my biggest fear is that Nebraska leads 10-0 after one quarter and the air goes out of the stadium.
Also, because I've seen a couple Husker fans comment on this here on the site, I wanted to throw in my $.02. While I doubt the K-State crowd will go out of their way to be especially welcoming to the fans in red on Thursday, I don't think it's going to "get ugly" as some seem to fear. I'm pretty sure the old maxim will hold true for the visitors: your treatment will be highly dependent on how you act. If you come in and cheer for your team and don't talk trash, you'll probably be fine, save for the few drunks or idiots (or both) that you run into anywhere. But if you come in talking trash about going to the Big 10 and how K-State is a mid-major and other lines of similar vintage, well, you're probably going to get what's coming to you. But this isn't Boulder.
We've talked about it here this week, but it is a statement game for the Cats.
I joined Corn Nation's podcast this week to talk a little K-State/Nebraska. They have some good posts preparing for tomorrow's game over there, such as a flashback thread (including the continuing myth that the Crouch facemask call cost them that game), and a look back at the 2010 season for K-State.