De'Mornay Pierson-El and Stanley Morgan Jr. had no need to discuss their new roles and responsibilities in the Nebraska passing game as spring practice began earlier this month. That was a conversation that happened a long time ago.

Sometime during the second half of a 9-4 2016 season in Lincoln -- neither Pierson-El nor Morgan nor receivers coach Keith Williams can remember precisely when -- Williams gathered the only two players in his group with substantial playing experience that would be returning for a heart-to-heart. He told them that it was no mystery that they would need to be focal points of the offense in 2017. So there was no sense in waiting any longer to act like it. It was time to step up.

"They don't have to wait until today to start thinking that way," Williams said. "I just felt like at that point, not only would that help them for the conversations we're having now, but right then it would help push them around the corner they need to turn before the season."

Six of the Cornhuskers' top eight pass-catchers from a year ago ended their careers in December. Morgan finished the 2016 season second on the team with 33 catches for 453 yards. Pierson-El caught 20 balls for 254 yards. The rest of the returning wide receiver group had a total of six catches. The recruiting trail netted three highly-touted incoming freshmen who could compete for snaps right away, but the lion's share of production for an offense breaking in a new starting quarterback next fall is expected to come from the duo that Williams pulled aside for their chat.

De'Mornay Pierson-El is ready to step to the forefront of Nebraska's receiving corps. Bruce Thorson/USA TODAY Sports

For a variety of reasons, Pierson-El's numbers jumped after that discussion. After spending a good chunk of his junior season trying to find his stride and his confidence, the 5-foot-9 speedster put on his best performance (five catches, 49 yards) in a bowl loss to Tennessee.

A fractured foot and torn ACL during his sophomore season stripped Pierson-El of the shiftiness that made him one of college football's most exciting freshmen in 2014. He couldn't move the way he did as a rookie, when he led the nation in punt return yards and scored seven touchdowns. That took a toll on him mentally, and he turned to family, the Bible and a sports psychologist to try to get his groove back. He said his new spot at the top of the receiver food chain this spring has helped too.

"The difference is I'm all the way focused on that and doing my job," Pierson-El said. "It was difficult, but I felt myself holding myself back. It was a lot of thinking. I wasn't comfortable instead of being 100 percent confident like I was my freshman year."

Williams said that Pierson-El is as strong and fast as he has seen since the new coaching staff arrived two years ago. Morgan is also noticeably stronger after a winter of working out with higher expectations.

Morgan -- heading into his junior season -- said having a couple new faces around to mentor has helped motivate him to more on top of the details of his own game. Jaevon McQuitty and Keyshawn Johnson Jr. both enrolled early this January. Both have missed parts of spring ball for health reasons, but they've had plenty of questions for Morgan.

"When I come to practice I already have to know what I've got to do every snap and every play," Morgan said. "You're a veteran guy and the young guys are looking up to you to show them the ropes. You have to be on our Ps and Qs every day all day."

The Cornhuskers are going to ask a lot of their two coming-of-age veterans in the passing game this season, but spring practice isn't exactly the start of something new for them. It's a role they've been working toward for months.