Paul Simpson suffered his first defeat as North End boss as his side went down 2-0 at Carrow Road.
An own goal from Sean St Ledger set Norwich on their way before Robert Earnshaw made sure of the points with his first of the season.
Things went from bad to worse in injury time when Preston were reduced to 10 men after Graham Alexander was red carded for a challenge on Drury.
Paul Simpson made just one change from the side that drew with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday after Danny Dichio failed to shake off the hip injury he suffered.
His place in the starting lineup went to Brian Stock as the PNE boss opted for a 4-5-1 formation with the former Bournemouth man joining McKenna and Jarrett in the middle.
Dickson Etuhu was up against his former club, just as Jarrett was and the two were in direct competition in the centre of the park.
North End were given an early warning with just five minutes on the clock a corner in from the left by Huckerby found Earnshaw with too much space in the middle but his sidefooted effort went well wide of Nash's right hand post.
A minute later ball in from Croft on the right, after he got in behind Hill but Alexander read the situation well and got up to head the danger clear from the head of Earnshaw.
21 - A good run from Whaley had Drury frantically backtracking, his low driven cross was missed at the near post and a sliced clearance from Doherty almost beat his own keeper but finished just wide of the left hand post.
At the other end a superb last gasp challenge from Simon Whaley prevented Darren Huckerby getting in an effort on goal as his quick feet were causing problems in the area. The former Manchester City man had already left Alexander on the floor but Whaley was quick to slide in and make the clearance.
The home side were aking more of the questions going forward with Darren Huckerby, Lee Croft and Robert Earnshaw in the thick of the action, but after keeping a clean sheet on Saturday the North End backline was feeling confident and stuck together well to ride the storm.
A shot from Whaley on 28 minutes bought a good save out of Gallacher to earn Preston their second corner of the match. The North End number 15 got the better of Drury once more and hit an effort from a tight angle on the right but the keeper reacted well to parry the ball behind.
Huckerby should have opened the scoring for the home side on 35 minutes when he was on the end of a parried clearance from Carlo Nash but despite having time and space his shot ended inches wide of the left hand post.
The initial danger came from Croft down the right, his cross was parried clear by Nash at his near post but it only went as far as the former Man City man who will certainly felt he should have done better.
Two minutes later Matt Hill was the first man in the book when he was cautioned for a late challenge on Lee Croft, he was joined in the book by Jarrett in injury time.
Carlo Nash had to be at his best as the first half was ticking away, to prevent Carl Robinson from giving Norwich the lead. The midfielder burst through the defence to race onto a loose ball, through one on one with Nash it was the keeper who came out on top saving well with his legs and the danger was cleared.
Half Time Norwich 0-0 Preston
Just three minutes after the break and Nash was called into action again this time getting down low to save a quick free kick from Youssef Safri.
While the wall was still lining up the Moroccan took the kick early spotting Nash still preparing for the free kick but Nash reacted quickly to make the save.
The deadlock was broken on 56 minutes and it was what no one wanted to see, the first goal scored against Carlo Nash, even worse though it came from the boot of Sean St Ledger.
A fairly innocuous ball in from Huckerby on the left was met by the boot of the North End defender but his sliced effort looped over the head of Nash to send the home crowd wild.
Brian Stock was replaced by Chris Sedgwick on 66 minutes, which saw a change in formation to 4-4-2 with Whaley joining Nugent in attack.
For the home side Paul McVeigh replaced Lee Croft four minutes later, with the man signed from Manchester City in the summer still struggling with his fitness.
Nash showed some good form, diving acrobatically to his left on 75 minutes to make the save from McVeigh, who fired in a shot from 20 yards out with virtually his first touch of the night.
At the other end, just seconds later, Nugent should have done better when he tricked and weaved his way into the area, after doing all the hard stuff his weak effort was easily saved, leaving Danny Pugh frustrated as he took up a good position on the left.
Patrick Agyemang replaced Danny Pugh on 77 minutes as Paul Simpson went in search of a much needed equaliser and it nearly came a minute later when Paul McKenna hit a long range effort that finished just wide of the right hand post.
Robert Earnshaw made it 2-0 nine minutes from time when he got the wrong side of Sean St Ledger to side foot a cross from Paul McVeigh home.
The ball came in from the right and the former Cardiff City marksman made no mistake and celebrated in style with his famous somersault.
Agyemang went close to pulling a goal back for North End with just four minutes remaining, he rose well at the far post to get on the end of a right wing cross from Sedgwick but the keeper just beat him to the loose ball as the Ghanaian looked to pounce.
Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse Graham Alexander was red carded for a challenge on Adam Drury, the Norwich players were less than impressed with the challenge but the red card surprised everyone meaning the Skipper will now miss the matches against Wolves, QPR and Port Vale.
PNE LINEUP: Nash, Alexander, Hill, St Ledger, Chilvers, Pugh (Agyemang 77), Whaley, McKenna, Jarrett, Stock (Sedgwick 66), Nugent.
SUBS: Lonergan, Sedgwick, Agyemang, McCormack, Wilson
NORWICH: Gallacher, Drury, Shackell, Huckerby, Croft (McVeigh 70), Earnshaw, Safri, Etuhu, Colin (Fleming 83), Doherty, Robinson
SUBS: Lewis, Fleming, Thorne, McKenzie, McVeigh
