Print second last column/field in awk

Question

I want to print the second last column or field in awk. The number of fields is variable. I know that I should be able to use $NF but not sure how it can be use

Answer 1

Small addition to Chris Kannon' accepted answer: only print if there actually is a second last column.

(
echo       | awk 'NF && NF-1 { print ( $(NF-1) ) }'
echo 1     | awk 'NF && NF-1 { print ( $(NF-1) ) }'
echo 1 2   | awk 'NF && NF-1 { print ( $(NF-1) ) }'
echo 1 2 3 | awk 'NF && NF-1 { print ( $(NF-1) ) }'
)