It was one year ago this week at Texas when all that was lacking was a eulogy. If hope hadn't died, it was wavering. The Longhorns had lost to Maryland for the second time in as many seasons.

Two days after a 34-29 defeat on the road, a media member questioned Tom Herman about being "arrogant" toward fans for not taking "the blame for the poor play by the team."

At that point, Herman was 7-7 as Texas' coach.

Following the press conference, I followed Herman down to his waiting car and asked him where that came from. He sort of shrugged. "I don't know," he said.

Bizarre has turned into boo-yah.

One year and a 10-win season later, arrogance is not an issue. No. 6 LSU may be, however.

No. 9 Texas is in the top 10 for the first time since 2010. It is playing what has been described as the Longhorns' biggest home game since 2006 (No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Texas).

These are the times when coaches earn those multimillion-dollar contracts. The back-to-back losses to Maryland are a memory. The common assumption is that Texas is in some way "back" after that 10-win season that included wins over Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry and Georgia in the 2019 Sugar Bowl.

Guess what? The need for validation continues. When you haven't won the Big 12 in a decade, well, it starts there. That makes the Texas-LSU a potential launching point for the Horns, not an end game.

Herman has spoken to Dabo Swinney, who took eight years to get to the national championship at Clemson. That's the same amount of time it took Mack Brown at Texas.

That's a hell of a long view ... and wait.

"I'm not saying we're setting the bar at seven years," Herman said this summer at Big 12 media days, "but what I'm saying is we want to win championships and we want to win them now. But we were brought here to rebuild a program. And that takes time."

That is the giant qualifier -- a reminder that this is still a process. Despite last season's Red River loss, Oklahoma is gunning for a fifth straight outright Big 12 title. (It bounced back to beat Texas in the Big 12 championship last season.) Then remember back to 2016 when Texas opened the season by beating Notre Dame in double overtime.

"There's only one way I've ever seen it topped," said Texas governor Greg Abbott at the time. "That was when Vince Young went across the goal line against USC 10 years ago."

That was a reference to the 2006 BCS Championship Game, of course. Less than 2½ months after that victory over Notre Dame, Charlie Strong was fired.

Strong walked out the door saying he had "baked the cake" for Herman in assembling a talented roster.

"Now," Strong added, "it's Tom Herman's job to put icing on the cake and win a lot of games."

Herman's celebrated recruiting classes will have to be a factor against the Tigers. Only three starters return on defense. Three of the replacements were making their first career start for the Horns against Louisiana Tech in the opener. Two others -- linebacker Joseph Ossai and defensive back Kobe Boyce -- were making their third career start.

The mere presence of ESPN's "College GameDay" on campus for the first time in a decade is an indicator of how far Texas has come – and still has to go.

"Our first two years didn't go well against your Terps," Herman told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt, a Maryland graduate. "Those teams played a bit hesitant in those games. A lot of these new faces, the stage was not too big for them. They can run and hit.

"We train for games like this. It's OK to be nervous. Don't let that nervous energy confuse you into not doing your job."

Yes, Texas is relevant, powerful and good. But like last year's "arrogance" question, the LSU result will only truly be judged by time.

Notre Dame in 2016 was a false positive. Are the Longhorns in 2019 just getting started? Is LSU the SEC's version of Texas?

The winner vaults into the top five. LSU has been there for all of three weeks since 2015. Texas hasn't been there since 2010. It's early, but Saturday's result could make the top five populated by three teams from the SEC (Alabama, Georgia, LSU) or two from the Big 12 (Oklahoma, Texas).

"I don't want to downplay the significance of the matchup," Herman said. "... But I also know that [Big 12 commissioner] Bob Bowlsby's not going to be handing out the Big 12 trophy after this game, either."