LINCOLN, Neb. -- A time will come, if Nebraska (5-0) keeps winning in the fashion it has through the first five games of 2016, when it’s no longer fair to the Cornhuskers or their coaches to compare the path of this group to the team last year or the regime that preceded coach Mike Riley’s arrival.

That time is not now.

Even the Huskers, renewed by positive energy in the program as they navigate a bye week ahead of an Oct. 15 visit to Indiana, marvel somewhat at the turnaround on display in the first month of this season.

Cornerback Joshua Kalu (10) and his teammates celebrate a fourth-quarter stop against Illinois on Saturday. Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

Nebraska has outscored its opponents 78-6 in the fourth quarter. The 72-point scoring margin ranks first nationally, as does the Huskers’ plus-6 turnover margin in the final period of play.

"Our team has made plays to win games,” Riley said.

It represents a reversal from a year ago, when Nebraska lost four times in the final seconds or overtime in its first six games. Six of its seven losses came by a total of 21 points.

At the risk of stating the obvious, games are won and lost in the fourth quarter -- a simple concept that is more complex to execute. That Nebraska is 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Big Ten and ranked 12th nationally is no shock, considering its schedule. Check back in a month after consecutive trips to No. 11 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State.

For now, it’s how Riley’s team has won that demands you take a look.

After Nebraska churned out an 18-play, 10-minute, 42-second scoring drive -- the Huskers’ longest by measure of the game clock dating to at least the 1980s -- to ignite a three-touchdown fourth quarter and beat Illinois 31-16, defensive coordinator Mark Banker spoke for so many at Memorial Stadium who endured last season.

“These are the kind of games we didn’t pull off [last year], for whatever reason,” Banker said.

The Huskers of last year probably would have lost to Oregon in Week 3, when Nebraska trailed in the fourth quarter and returned the ball to the Ducks, up three points with 2½ minutes to play.

They may have lost at Northwestern, behind five minutes into the third quarter after losing two first-half fumbles in the end zone.

And as linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey confirmed, they probably would have lost to Illinois -- as occurred a year ago in Champaign when the Huskers collapsed in the final minutes of a tight game.

Rose-Ivey said the Huskers pledged in the offseason, motivated by the results of last year, to leave no doubt in the final 15 minutes.

“We’ve got to own it,” he said. “We’ve got to dominate it.”

The coaching transition to Riley and his staff was tough last year for everyone, Banker said. But the coaches kept their players’ attention.

They’re paying attention even more closely in this second season. For example, Banker points to a play late in the opener against Fresno State when a receiver beat the Huskers deep as Nebraska led by 33 points.

The ball was poorly thrown, an incompletion. No harm done?

Banker saw it differently. He gathered his guys on the sideline.

“Wisconsin and Ohio State are definitely not going to miss [that].”

“Know how to finish,” Banker said, pausing for effect between each word.

“They believe in one another. They want to. There’s more communication between all of us -- trust.”

After the nightmarish road to a 5-7 regular season in 2015, the Huskers’ path took an unthinkable twist in July when All-Big Ten punter Sam Foltz died in a car accident in Wisconsin. Grief brought teammates closer.

When Riley said go on fourth-and-9 from near midfield with 3:38 to play and Nebraska trailing Oregon by four points, trust played a role in his decision.

Tommy Armstrong Jr. hit Jordan Westerkamp for 14 yards.

And when Riley again said go on fourth-and-1 from the 4-yard line, late in that decisive drive last week as Nebraska trailed Illinois 16-10, Terrell Newby stretched the ball past the first-down marker by an inch or two and a few Huskers looked upward, sure that Foltz had given it a nudge.

“I knew that we’d get it,” Riley said, half joking.

Not long ago, adversity divided this program.

The events of last week might have splintered the team in recent years -- at least pushed it into a defensive position. But as politicians and the public argued over the decision of three Huskers to kneel in protest during the Sept. 24 national anthem at Northwestern, the players, coaches and their administration presented a strong, unified look.

A time may arrive soon when a look back is irrelevant, when this team and its leaders deserve to be evaluated solely on their achievements.

If the Huskers, somehow, are still winning in a month, that will be the right time.