So, how humbled are the Cougars?

Bronco Mendenhall talked up humility a week ago. The H-word is more applicable today.

The two-time MWC champion didn't manage success very well in 2008. Those players will tell anyone who'll listen, they left a lot undone, took too much for granted and fell way short of expectations. After beating up on UCLA, they faded like an over-hyped steed.

They wore a target on their backs, and the weight proved too heavy. BYU was not fully prepared to meet motivated TCU (emotion) or Utah (execution).

BYU: Frontrunner defenders who finished third.

The Cougars can use "ticked off with third" to motivate them after finishing with a loss for the first time in three seasons.

Fact is, opponents have now seen Robert Anae's offense. They've broken down Jaime Hill's defense — reviewing it with veterans in 2007 and exploiting it with only three returning starters in 2008.

BYU must now adjust, morph with the times, grow, tweak and fill. It's time to weed out some things and introduce others.

It'll take plugging in players on defense, but not just any warm body will do.

Times in this region are changing. In 2008, BYU fooled only the weak. It's football Darwinism, evolve or die.

The Mountain West is bulking up and trimming fat. The hires at New Mexico, Wyoming and San Diego State are expected to be upgrades in wide open offensive football, and defenses, as the Big 12 witnessed this year, will take the brunt of the growing pains in the Mountain West.

Bronco Mendenhall's staff needs to spearhead changes. But returning players also have to change their approach to getting knowledge and applying it.

One guy who knows the weight of pushing things forward in a Cougar uniform is former defensive captain Cameron Jensen. He joined guys like John Beck, Curtis Brown, Jake Kuresa, Daniel Coats and Bryan Kehl in building a foundation for the return of titles to Provo after 2005's 6-6 finish.

They called Jensen "The General" because he got out front and led forcefully.

BYU could use more generals and fewer pawns in uniform.

After Beck's potential game-winning TD pass just beyond the hands of an outstretched Mike Reed in the 2005 loss to Utah in LES, Beck studied the game film for hours and wrote down 20 things he could have done on that play. In 2006, he found Jonny Harline wide open.

"What motivated us is the knowledge of what we were capable of doing if we did it right, if we made two or three more plays, if we executed," said Jensen.

"We went into the next season believing in ourselves with confidence, if we worked at getting better, we would win a championship."