Matt Rhule became a key candidate for the Penn State head coaching job after James Franklin’s firing on Sunday. However, the discussion turned into a jab for Rhule on Friday as his No. 25 Nebraska fell 24-6 to Minnesota.Penn State was the No. 2 school in the preseason and considered a College Football Playoff favorite, but it has spiraled into a three-game losing streak following a 30-24 loss to Oregon on Sept. 26. The streak included disappointing losses to UCLA and Northwestern.Nebraska also witnessed a 30-27 loss against Michigan on Sept. 20. After Friday’s loss, fans compared Rhule to Franklin for coming up short in big games.“Matt Rhule just aced his Penn State interview,” a fan said.“Looks like Matt Rhule spent more time rehearsing his “Hello Penn State!” speech than studying Minnesota’s playbook. Hello Penn State! Goodbye Nebraska… and apparently, goodbye game prep too!” a person said.Meanwhile, some fans were more focused on linking Rhule as the next PSU coach.“Rhule already thinking about that Penn State buyout money,” a person said.“Matt Rhule intentionally losing so he doesn’t miss the single transfer portal window at Penn State because he had a playoff game taking his time up,” one said.“Matt Rhule decided telling Nebraska fans he won't be Penn State's head coach wasn't enough - he needed to show them,” one said.“This is what happens when your coaches head is in Penn States Happy Valley instead of Nebraska,” a fan said.Nebraska is set to visit Penn State on Nov. 22.Matt Rhule vows to focus on Nebraska coaching careerMatt Rhule initially didn’t directly dismiss the Penn State rumors in his press conference last week. Instead, he spoke on his friendship with Nittany Lions athletic director Pat Kraft and recalling how he met his wife Julie there.However, during an appearance on the “Pat McAfee Show” on Thursday, Rhule made his position cystal clear about the Nebraska-to-Penn-State talk."With my team, it's just unbridled honesty," Rhule said. "Tell them the truth. Tell them exactly the truth and don't BS them, because they'll know. But I don't do that during the season. I don't mess around with that, I don't play that.""I have a great young team. Think about how good we'll be next year. Now, I'm not thinking about next year. But where we are right now, we're learning, learning, learning. Think about where we're going to go with Dylan (Raiola) and all these guys? So, I refuse to be distracted."Rhule’s focus now remains on improving Nebraska’s performance after the 18-point loss to Minnesota, where the Huskers managed just 36 rushing yards. The loss dropped their record to 5-2 on the season.