Cornhusker Flakes

Tony the Tiger has a serious rival these days at the University of Nebraska.

Students at the Lincoln, Neb. campus can now start their day with their very own breakfast cereal featuring the football team mascot Herbie Husker.

Cornhusker All-Stars were created by Sutherland, Neb., corn farmer Donald Grubb in an effort to keep his farm afloat financially.

"We were slipping behind and finding it increasingly difficult to stay on the farm. We had to change our operation somehow to eliminate the middlemen. We thought about strawberries but I like growing corn so we decided to try cereal," the 51-year-old Grubb said.

Rather than put out just any cereal, Grubb decided to appeal to state pride. "The Huskers are almost a religion out here," he said.

The University of Nebraska proved very receptive to Grubb's idea. "We gave him the right to use the Cornhusker name in exchange for 6 percent of the profits," said Greg Fouraker, business manager for the University of Nebraska.

Grubb then approached 25 former Nebraska All-American athletes and got permission to feature their faces on trading cards inside the cereal boxes. "Most of them were really flattered. They were pleased that we wanted to put them in cereal boxes," Grubb said.

The bright yellow boxes of Husker cereal contain star-shaped puffs made of--you guessed it--corn. Grubb's company now puts out 2000 boxes of cereal daily and hopes to increase production soon.