Like senior Marcus Newby — who’s competing with Gifford at the “dog,” or field, linebacker position — Gifford has been a bit of a journeyman at Nebraska. He arrived in 2014 from Southeast to play safety. He stayed there for a year while redshirting. He moved to outside linebacker in 2015 and appeared in six games that season. A hip injury kept Gifford out the second half of that season, and he made just a single tackle last season.

In early 2017, coach Mike Riley fired former defensive coordinator Mark Banker. Riley hired Diaco, whose 3-4 scheme moved Gifford to the “dog.” Diaco and Bray call it the “overhang” linebacker because of how the player looms just outside the tackle box but closer to the line of scrimmage than a linebacker stacked behind a defensive lineman would be. The position asks a lot; the defender has to take on blocks, rush the passer, cover a back and tackle in space.

Bray and Diaco both talked to Gifford during the spring about taking advantage of his new position, and Gifford seized on it.

“He saw it, bought into it, and he’s really taken to it,” Bray said of Gifford.