It’s 10 games into the tenure of Jimbo Fisher at Texas A&M and Aggieland is seeing a difference. No, the win-loss record does not indicate it. The Aggies are 6-4, and but for a field goal here or a touchdown there could have been looking at a real possibility of a 10-win season.

No, the real difference is just in the way the Aggies carry themselves. There are expectations that weren’t there before. The overall feel of the program has taken on a much more optimistic approach since Fisher took over this season.

Here are five things that have become clear at Texas A&M over the first 10 games under Fisher and his coaching staff.

1. Toughness

The knock on the Aggies was that they are too soft. Well, that is changing in a hurry. The Aggies are tougher in the trenches on both sides of the football as evident by a strong running game and a defense that is tops in the SEC against the rush.

Size matters, and the Aggies’ “Big Maroon Goons” as they call themselves along the offensive line since 2012, averaged 313 pounds per player, most in school history. The same goes for the defensive line where for the first time in school history, the Aggies started three 300-pounders (Daylon Mack 320, Kingsley Keke 305, Justin Madubuike 300).

As a team, the Aggies are fifth in the SEC averaging 196 rushing yards per game. They were 10th last season, and haven’t finished above sixth since Johnny Manziel’s Heisman season in 2012.

On the defensive side, the Aggies have been impossible to run against. They lead the SEC and rank second in the nation, limiting opponents to an average of 80 rushing yards per game. The Aggies have held six opponents to under 100 rushing yards. Only once has a team managed more than 125 yards rushing, that was Mississippi State and QB Nick Fitzgerald.

Playing much tougher in the trenches has made the Aggies a better team and builds a mentality that will serve them well in future years.

2. Aggressiveness

Although it backfired in a loss to Auburn, staying aggressive on offense is making it more accountable and offering QB Kellen Mond an opportunity to prove that he can get the job done in the clutch.

The sophomore accounted for a career-high 4 touchdowns on Saturday, including 3 passing, which tied a career mark in a single game, and one running. Mond completed 19-of-28 passes for 236 yards and was still throwing the ball late in the fourth quarter in an attempt to put away the Rebels.

An aggressive defense is paying dividends as well. The Aggies held Ole Miss to just 1-of-11 on third-down opportunities with a pressure defense that proved too much for the Rebels. Texas A&M came into the game leading the SEC (fifth in FBS) in holding the opposition to just 28-of-102 (27.5 percent) conversions on third down.

3. Attitude

Fisher said it right from the outset; “It ain’t gonna be how it used to be.”

The Aggies have responded. The victory Saturday over Ole Miss marked the first time that they have won consecutive SEC home games since 2013.

There is a swagger beginning to build and it is evident in the results. The Aggies are playing fewer snaps on defense and more on offense. Through 10 games, the Aggies have run 198 more offensive plays than defensive, the highest difference in the country.

Mond has improved his QB rating by 4.2 points from last season. And the Aggies are averaging 6.2 more first downs per game than the opposition and winning the time of possession battle by more than 7 minutes.

It is that swagger on offense that has helped propel the Aggies to rack up 500-yard games four times this season.

4. Tight end a factor in passing game

Fisher has injected the tight end into the Aggies’ passing attack. Has he ever. Junior TE Jace Sternberger leads the team in receiving with 38 catches for 644 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Sternberger is just 66 receiving yards shy of Texas A&M’s single-season record of 710 receiving yards set in 1986 by Rod Bernstine.

5. Run game is formidable again

As mentioned previously, the Aggies haven’t been this tough in the run game since joining the SEC. Junior RB Trayveon Williams on Saturday became just the fifth Aggie to rush for 1,000 yards twice in a career. The only other players to accomplish the feat at Texas A&M were Cyrus Gray, Greg Hill, Darren Lewis (Texas A&M’s all-time leading rusher) and George Woodard.

Williams ran for 228 yards on a career-high 31 carries on Saturday in the victory over Ole Miss. The rushing total was just shy of his career-best 240 in the 2018 opener against Northwestern State. It also tied him with Darren Lewis with 4 career 200-yard rushing games, and two in one season.

A revived running game is a critical building block in raising the level of a program, and Fisher is putting down the foundation for that.