CLEMSON — The thing that stood out the most to former Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne when he recalled his Cornhuskers’ loss to Clemson in the Orange Bowl 27 years ago was how loud the orange-clad Tiger fans were.

It’s a memory that stands out as the current Nebraska athletic director looks forward to the New Year’s Day Gator Bowl matchup in Jacksonville, Fla., and it’s that very reason the Gator Bowl Association selected both Clemson and Nebraska to play in their bowl game.

“We look forward to a sellout,” Gator Bowl president Rick Catlett told the Florida-Times Union Monday. “We think we’re going to get there rather rapidly.”

It appears they already almost are. So far, reports have that Clemson and Nebraska fans have bought up about 66,000 of the 77,000 tickets by late Monday afternoon. In fact, Cornhusker fans have already bought more than 9,000 of their allotted 12,750 tickets. Athletic department officials at Nebraska say they are already on pace to surpass the number of tickets they sold for the 2006 Cotton Bowl.

There is no official word on how well Clemson is doing, but based on the early returns coming out of Jacksonville it appears Tiger fans are swooping up as many of the 13,500 they were allotted.

Clemson fans are anxious to see the Gator Bowl matchup because it will be the first time their Tigers have played Nebraska since they clinched the 1981 National Championship with a 22-15 victory in the 1982 Orange Bowl. Though a national championship is far from being at stake this time around, the excitement level for the game is just the same.

Clemson (7-5) comes into the Gator Bowl on a three-game winning streak and winners of four of their last six since Tommy Bowden “resigned” as head coach on Oct. 13. Then interim head coach Dabo Swinney found a way to turn things around and has reunited the fan base and the team.

Those acts earned the 39-year old coach from Pelham, Ala. the permanent gig as head coach last week.

“When they made the coaching change, he was able to keep the kids’ attention and got them to buy in,” said Nebraska coach Bo Pelini during a teleconference Sunday. “Everything he’s been able to accomplish with that football team shows the character on that football team.”

Pelini knows a thing or two about keeping the kids’ attention. He has had to do the same at Nebraska. After replacing Bill Callahan as head coach, following a 5-7 record last year, Pelini guided the Huskers to an 8-4 record in his first season.

“I was looking for the team to play hard, to turn the attitude around, the confidence level. Bo and his staff did that,” Osborne said. “Sometimes the greatest coaching jobs in the world are done by people who have a losing record. You just have to go with what you’ve got. I don’t know that you can evaluate on the won-loss record, although it was very good. I was pleased with it. They did a great job turning around some things that needed to be turned around.”

Pelini, who was defending national champion LSU’s defensive coordinator last year, was Nebraska’s defensive coordinator in 2003 under Frank Solich, but Callahan didn’t retain him when he took over in 2004.

Missouri and Oklahoma blew out the Huskers this year, but they still tied for first place in the Big 12 North and nearly beat Texas Tech. Their other loss came to ACC champion Virginia Tech.

In all, the Cornhuskers are averaging 36.2 points a game, while the defense dropped its average from 37.9 points a year ago to 29.2 this season. Still not great numbers, but nonetheless it’s an improvement.

“There is no question our team improved throughout the year,” Osborne said.

Landing on his feet. Kansas State head coach Bill Snyder has named former Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning as his assistant head football coach and co-defensive coordinator Monday.

Koenning, a native of Owasso, Okla., played on Kansas State’s 1982 bowl squad – the program’s first. He will also coach the Kansas State secondary on the staff that Snyder is putting together for his second run as the Wildcats’ head coach.

During every one of his four years as Clemson defensive coordinator, the school finished in the top 25 in scoring, total and pass efficiency defense.

— Wire and staff reports contributed to this story