Auburn is about to enter Year 4 of the Gus Malzahn era. The first year was terrific, with the Tigers winning the SEC championship and taking an 18-point lead in the BCS National Championship Game before eventually losing to Florida State by a field goal.

The next two years haven’t been nearly as great. Two seasons ago, Auburn finished 8-5 before going 7-6 in 2015 after beating Memphis in the Birmingham Bowl.

Between 2010 and 2013, Auburn reached two national championship games and won one title. Over the last two years, the Tigers have been just four games above .500, and what’s worse is that they finished 2-6 in SEC play while not beating a conference team at home last season.

But here are five ways in which Malzahn can help Auburn become truly great again.

Make more inroads on the recruiting trail in Alabama

It’s safe to say that as long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa and continues his winning ways, the Crimson Tide will dominate recruiting in Alabama. But that doesn’t mean that Auburn should concede that fact.

It’s great for Alabama that it can basically recruit a bunch of four-star and five-star players and let them duke it out for eventual starting jobs. But what about those blue-chippers who come to Tuscaloosa and don’t get any reps?

If the Tide is going to scoop the majority of the state’s top-notch talent, then Auburn should sell the possibility of playing right away if it isn’t doing that already. But Alabama’s influence is so deep, it has forced the Tigers to dig more deeply in the JUCO ranks with Jovon Robinson and John Franklin III recent examples of players who have come to The Plains from that level.

Auburn seems fixated on using “Largest Video Board in the U.S.A.” as a selling point for recruits. But as bamahammer.com has pointed out, it seems as if it’s time to use another approach.

Make the offensive and defensive lines as strong as possible

For an SEC-record seven straight seasons, Auburn has had at least one 1,000-yard rusher. Twice over that span, the Tigers have had two players reach that plateau in the same season, so they’ve had a solid offensive line since 2009.

With three returning starters, including two of the best guards in the SEC in Alex Kozan and Braden Smith, this year is no exception. However, this season for a change, Auburn’s defensive line might be equally as good.

Carl Lawson, Montravius Adams and Dontavius Russell are returning starters and part of a group that finished with just 19 sacks in 13 games last season to finish ahead of only Kentucky in the SEC. In addition to sophomore Byron Cowart, seniors Devaroe Lawrence and Maurice Swain give the Tigers experience and depth that new coordinator Kevin Steele will try to maintain for as long as he stays at Auburn.

For his and Malzahn’s sake, hopefully that’s longer than the one-year stints AU’s recent defensive coordinators have been averaging.

Find a championship-caliber quarterback

At Auburn, a Cam Newton-type of player comes along about once every 53 years — the length of the national-championship drought the Tigers ended with their victory over Oregon in 2010. Three years later, Nick Marshall took AU to another title game, so the Tigers had two national championship-caliber quarterbacks in basically the span of one recruiting class.

That kind of performance and luck is rare and unrealistic to expect on a regular basis. Auburn’s quarterback play last season was nowhere near championship-caliber, but with both 2015 starters — Jeremy Johnson and Sean White — returning, can improvement from the most important position on the field be expected?

The Tigers completed fall camp without naming a starting signal-caller. Incoming recruits John Franklin III and Woody Barrett are the great unknowns. Malzahn’s job could depend on whether one of them becomes a great QB.

Win the Iron Bowl consistently

Auburn’s longest winning streak against its most bitter rival — six straight victories from 2002-07 — didn’t result in any national titles. But because of the SEC West’s recent dominance, the last six winners of the Iron Bowl have advanced to either the BCS National Championship Game or the College Football Playoff.

Of course, the last two times Auburn defeated the Crimson Tide it also played for a national championship, so it has to start beating Bama for multiple reasons. State bragging rights, SEC Championship Game berths and Malzahn’s future are just a few of them.

So who will win this year’s Iron Bowl, you ask? According to the South Point Casino Hotel, Nick Saban’s squad is favored by 18 points — a line that probably won’t change much even after Malzahn chooses his starting QB.

Start beating other SEC teams again

With Alabama winning four national championships over Saban’s nine seasons in Tuscaloosa, even non-SEC teams have had a tough time beating the Crimson Tide over the last decade. The only conference teams Auburn beat last season were Kentucky and Texas A&M.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, they might not do much better in conference play in 2016. Home matchups against Texas A&M, Arkansas and Vanderbilt appear to be the only SEC games Auburn might win this season.

Before AU can return to being a conference power, it has to resolve a bunch of issues right away. The quarterback spot isn’t the only question mark. With Peyton Barber and Jovon Robinson no longer on the team, who will start at running back?

Under Steele, can the defense be any better than it’s been over the last two seasons? The bottom line is that the Tigers have to start beating more than just SEC teams.

Auburn’s Sept. 3 season opener at home against Clemson is a good place to start. If the Tigers defeat last season’s national runner-up and find a way to build on that victory, AU will be on track to be great once more.