Over the summer at Big Ten media days, when Northwestern running back Justin Jackson donned a charcoal-colored suit and smiled in front of reporters, this wasn't the season he envisioned.
A 2-3 start wasn't broached, wasn't even thought about. Back-to-back losses to Western Michigan and FCS school Illinois State remained an unlikely nightmare at that point.
"But," Jackson said Tuesday night, "just because that happened, we weren't going to let the rest of the season go by the wayside. It took us a little while to get going, but we feel like we're hitting our stride.