Normally, Nebraska coach Matt Rhule turns the page on Monday.

His standard Monday media availability usually starts with injury/personnel updates if there are any. There are always thoughts on film reviews. He gives his reactions to the latest news or storylines of the week. There is usually an anecdote from his playing days at Penn State or a previous coaching stop. And as usual, a lot of time is spent on Nebraska’s upcoming opponent.

But Monday didn’t go quite that way.

It didn’t matter that Nebraska had the benefit of a longer look in the rearview mirror after losing to Illinois. It didn’t matter that Nebraska had another day on the weekend to chew on what had happened.

Rhule was clearly still shaken by the incident against Illinois.

The overarching theme: Nebraska wasn’t good enough — a phrase he repeated four times during his 36-minute availability. Nebraska wasn’t disciplined enough — a phrase he said three times Monday. Nebraska, especially in the second half, played too tight — a phrase he used five times Monday.

He’s right about that. The yards after contact? I don’t have the exact number in front of me, but that was a problem. None of the defensive linemen recorded a sack? Unusual for this defense.

“The disappointing thing was — overtime wasn’t nearly good enough. It was a debacle, right? But at the end of the day, it’s just a missed assignment,” Rhule said. “It’s not that we’re not good. That’s my message to our guys.”

The problems on Friday were a lot of small things. (And some refereeing blunders against both teams, but we won’t go into that.)

The false start Gunnar Gottula had in extra time. That’s a small thing that changes things.

Dylan Raiola’s failed would-be touchdown pass to Luke Lindemeyer. That’s a little thing that changes things.

The slightly off-kilter snap-hold-kick operation on John Hohl’s 39-yard field goal miss. That’s a little thing that changes things.

The simultaneous reception in the end zone between Isaiah Neyor and Torrie Cox Jr. became an Illinois interception. That’s a small thing that changes things.

The punt that sailed in the opposite direction of what was intended, causing Nebraska to not only blow its coverage but also not be in position to bring down Illinois’ Hank Beatty until he had returned the ball 37 yards. That’s a little thing that changes things.

Or, more broadly, Illinois was 7-of-13 on third downs and 2-of-3 on fourth downs. If any of those were stops instead of conversions, that’s a small thing that changes things.

“All I know is none of it was good enough, and we still had a chance to win the game,” Rhule said.

He continued later: “I played for Coach Paterno, and in games like this he would say, ‘Everybody calm down. We’ve got one more play. Just go make one more.’ That’s what that game felt like. The ball’s in our hands and we’re not going to get away with it.”

If Nebraska had been able to turn any of the aforementioned blunders into highlight reels, the Huskers would have put themselves in a strong position to win the game.

No false start on the first play of overtime? Nebraska doesn’t start behind the sticks and probably tries a shot play.

If Raiola’s pass to Lindenmeyer is not cleared and caught, Nebraska leads 31-24 with 2:59 to play.

If the snap-hold-kick operation goes smoothly, Hohl’s 39-yard field goal could split the uprights to give Nebraska a 27-24 lead with 2:59 to play.

If Neyor came down with the ball instead of Cox intercepting it, Nebraska would be up 17-10 with 7:57 left in the second quarter. The halftime score would have been 24-10 instead of 17-10.

If Beatty doesn’t return that punt for 37 yards, maybe Illinois doesn’t march down the field and score a touchdown with 1:55 left in the third quarter. Maybe it’s just a field goal. Maybe it’s a turnover on downs.

“The biggest question, as a coach, is anyone can tell me how we lost. You’ve got to figure out why we lost,” Rhule said. “‘How did we lose?’ Well, we couldn’t get off the field on third down. We made all those yards after contact. The question is, why? Where did that come from? That’s the secret sauce to solving these kinds of things.

“For me, that comes from a lot of intimate, personal conversations with players and coaches. And that’s something (we) go through all week.”

One thing could be: play tight in the second half.

Winning close games is not something Nebraska has experienced much in recent years. Is it something subconscious that causes the rigidity? How do you overcome that?

“Well, it’s a chicken and egg thing. How do you learn to win if you’ve never really won before?” Rhule said. “But our guys are winners, and that’s the biggest thing to me. Our guys are doing winning things. I want them to be themselves in those moments and stop worrying about all that other stuff and just go out there and compete.”

Nebraska always uses its elite alumni to teach, but the Huskers took it a step further by hiring Brett Maher as a special teams assistant.

Good. Who better to learn from? He’s done it all.

He’s an award-winning kicker. He’s an award-winning punter. He’s been retained for kickers. He’s had a 10-year career as a professional football player and is still in good enough shape to not only tell the Nebraska specialists how to punt and kick, but he can show them.

As for Hohl’s miss and Tristan Alvano’s injury, he’s been through that too.

In 2021, Maher suffered a groin injury while warming up for a preseason game in August and did not play in an NFL game until November of that year.

In 2023, Maher had an uncharacteristically bad game, missing four extra points in a playoff game, despite making 94.6% of his extra point attempts in his NFL career.

Again… Who better to learn from?

After beating two top-five opponents last week, then-No. 2 Stanford and then-No. 4 Louisville, Nebraska moved up to No. 2 on Monday.

But it’s just the beginning, as Big Ten play begins this week.

Nebraska hosts UCLA and Ally Batenhorst-led USC this weekend. Batenhorst’s Trojans are ranked No. 20 in the latest AVCA poll.