The No. 4 Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team is finally back in action as a team this Sunday after a two-week break from competition. The Sooners travel to Lincoln, Neb., to take on the tenth-ranked Cornhuskers for the second time this season.

The Sooners opened up the season with a win over then-No. 9 Nebraska en route to the program’s 12th straight Rocky Mountain Open title. The team followed that victory with consecutive wins over two more ranked teams — Ohio State and Minnesota — to improve to 5-0.

Following the last home meet against Minnesota, the team got a break from NCAA team competition; however, four Sooners were still busy competing individually.

Senior Steven Legendre and sophomores Jake Dalton, Alex Naddour and Chris Stehl all competed in the 2011 Winter Cup in Las Vegas last weekend to attempt to earn a spot on the U.S. Senior National Team.

Dalton had maybe his best performance of the year to take home the all-around title from the competition, securing his spot on the team. Naddour also earned a spot on the national team by finishing fourth overall, and Legendre automatically had a spot on the team due to his participation with last year’s world championship team. Stehl finished the weekend with his best Winter Cup performance to date, finishing 15th overall.

As well as Oklahoma’s athletes performed in the individual competition, they are ready to get back into NCAA competition with their teammates.

“Competing individually is a lot of fun, and it’s a challenge,” Naddour said. “But it’s also a little bit more nerve-wracking. You’re out there by yourself and on different equipment a lot of times. Whereas, in an NCAA meet, you’re out there with all of your teammates behind you, supporting you, so it’s definitely a lot more comfortable atmosphere.”

The team will need to have a high comfort level when it takes on Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers easily defeated Air Force, another top-15 team, in its only home meet of the year. The Huskers do have three losses this year, but two of those were to top-five squads — No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 3 Illinois.

That being said, Oklahoma easily topped Nebraska by 12 points when the two teams met to start the year, and the Sooners have only improved in the two meets following the Rocky Mountain Open.

The two teams face off at 1:00 p.m. Sunday in Lincoln. After that, the Sooners have only six days to prepare for a road trip to Palo Alto, Calif., to take on Stanford, the top-ranked team in the country.