Matt Rhule's attempt to turn the Nebraska football program around is off to a shaky start. The Cornhuskers were defeated by Minnesota 13-10 in Week 1. In Week 2, Deion Sanders' revamped Colorado team blew out Nebraska 36-14 in front of a national audience. With the Cornhuskers set to host Northern Illinois in its home opener Saturday, Matt Rhule believes the Nebraska football players are lacking confidence because of their 0-2 record.

The Nebraska football program has become accustomed to losing. The Cornhuskers posted a 4-8 record in 2022, giving the team its sixth straight season with a sub-.500 record. Rhule understands that it won't be easy for his players' mentality to change.

“I think a lot of our guys are carrying around 0-2 with them instead of ‘I'm carrying around the joy of playing this week,'” Rhule told reporters, via InsideNebraska's Steve Marik.

“This is what the team needs to do, though. This is how you reverse trends. This is how you change however many years it's been of losing. You confront head-on the things that you're afraid of. You confront head-on the noise you hear. You confront head-on those thoughts in your brain of fear and failure…You confront all that and you overcome it. And then you become a strong, confident team and the program has confidence. There's no easy way around it. I hope that being at home helps us in that process, but the process that we're going through is still internal for each player, still internal in the locker room. They've got to overcome the past.”

Rhule has turned around multiple college football programs during his career. Rhule took Temple from two wins to 10 wins in the span of two years. After going 1-11 at Baylor in 2017, Rhule led the Bears to an 11-3 record in 2019.

Nebraska can only hope Rhule's previous stops serve as a blueprint for his time with the Cornhuskers.