And Mendenhall knows this.
That realization — and the stirring results of those two remarkable wins — seems to have shaken the man out of his cosmetic coma and into his true self, bared now for all to see.
Immediately after Tanner Mangum hit Mitch Mathews for a 42-yard game-winner in the season opener, Mendenhall ran around the field at Memorial Stadium like a maniac. You saw him. He acted like a kid tasting Funky Monkey for the first time. Once he got to the locker room, his cover was fully blown. He turned the corner, his players crammed into a relatively small space, waiting for him, and when he appeared, they roared.