Is that click you heard the process locking in? Did you hear it?

The Aggies were certainly locked in on Saturday. Not taking anything for granted, not looking ahead to the stretch run coming up, Texas A&M took care of business. In business=like fashion, it dismantled outmanned South Carolina, 44-14, at Kyle Field.

No letdown here. No trap game to trip up the progress of a program looking to cement a process that doesn’t allow for such stumbles.

The Aggies have truly put the inexplicable back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Mississippi State behind them. They continue to prove that beating then-No. 1 Alabama wasn’t just a fluke. Back-to-back victories over lesser competition since that epic victory tells us that their season wasn’t based on a single game.

No, it’s the process which head coach Jimbo Fisher harps on endlessly that’s driving this team now. A process that breeds consistency, the kind of consistency that blocks out letdowns against lesser teams like Missouri and South Carolina. Teams capable of pulling an upset if the opponent is distracted just enough and not mentally prepared to play at SEC level.

It’s an ongoing process that gives the Aggies the edge in at least 3 of their final 4 games. Only Ole Miss might be favored over Texas A&M the rest of the way.

And the longshot still remains that if the Aggies win out and Alabama loses to either Auburn, LSU or Arkansas, it’s Texas A&M that goes to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game. Yes, it’s a longshot, but it’s still a mathematical possibility.

Regardless, it’s the process that’s the important thing, and the light bulb has appeared to have flickered on. That’s the exciting part, because with the process firmly entrenched in the program, those head-scratching back-to-back losses will be a thing of the past.

South Carolina 1st-year head coach Shane Beamer is convinced.

“That’s what a dominant SEC football team, looks like and they played like it,” Beamer said after the game.

In all phases of the game, from the 95-yard punt return for a touchdown by Ainias Smith to open the scoring, to 8 consecutive scoring drives, to holding the opposition to just 3 conversions on 13 3rd-down plays, it was a dominant effort from a team that is catching on to, fully believing in, and working the process.

It didn’t matter, in this game anyway, that quarterback Zach Calzada completed just 50 percent of his passes (12-for-24) and threw an interception. It came on his 3rd passing attempt of the game. Calzada rebounded to complete 9 of his next 12 passes, and he finished with 187 yards and 2 TDs, both to standout TE Jalen Wydermyer.

That’s what you do when you’re mentally into the process and not worried about making a mistake.

And now that Fisher has found a combination that works along the offensive line, the sky appears to be the limit for this squad. For the 2nd consecutive week, and 3rd time this season, the Aggies had 2 rushers break 100 yards.

Running backs Isaiah Spiller and Devon Achane are having a good time carrying the football behind this vastly improved O-line. Achane ran for a career-high 154 yards on Saturday while Spiller posted the 15th 100-yard game of his career.

As mentioned, it’s all phases of the game. Placekicker Seth Small booted 3 field goals to tie Randy Bullock (2008-11) with 63 for tops on the career list. Small’s next made field goal will make him the Aggies’ career leader.

It truly is an amazing transformation from just a month earlier, when it looked like the Aggies were headed in the complete opposite direction.