We start beating teams before we even play them. In the heyday that was the Huskers of the past, we so soundly beat teams on a regular basis (conference foes) that the next year they still remembered the beatings and pain that went with their loss. Their will to win was replaced with the will to simply get out of the game in one piece. Now every team we play thinks they can beat us. Even ISU played us tough. A loss to A&M?! The only time we should be challenged is in our MNC bid or BCS bowl.
Currently, we do not appear to have the place foot on neck mentality that would also denote we are back.
We are close to beating teams we should, but IMHO, as HIS stated, we should be in a place that our backups get a significant amount of playing time. In the 80's and 90's our depth was so good because so many of the second team got to play against the best the other teams had offer. We are improving, and getting closer, but not there. A complete game form start to finish would be a good start.