Appearing on the “In the Trenches” podcast with former Wolverine offensive lineman Jon Jansen, Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown expressed his slowly growing confidence headed into the program’s November 30 showdown with No. 1 Ohio State.

TheWolverine shared Brown’s comments:

“I think we just need to stay true to form,” Brown began.

“I think we’ve done a good job of giving our guys stuff on a week-to-week basis where they’re probably wondering, ‘Why are we practicing this play? Why are we practicing that play?’ So we’ve done a good job of keeping their hands in it without really telling them their hands are in it. But, they know.”

Addressing the topic of any potential ghosts from last year’s meeting, a 62-39 loss at Ohio Stadium, Brown thinks the program has turned the page.

“It’s another year, it’s a different group,” he explained.

“They better be careful now because we’re hitting our stride, too. This is a two-way street, and I know our guys will be ready in three weeks.”

First serving as a defensive coordinator at D-II Mansfield (Pennsylvania) in 1983, Brown re-joined the Dartmouth Big Green the following year and spent the next three seasons as the program’s defensive coordinator.

After stops at Massachusetts, Connecticut and Boston College, he became a member of Steve Addazio’s staff at Boston College in 2013. Fielding one of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s best defenses during his three years with the Eagles, Jim Harbaugh swayed Brown to come to Ann Arbor in 2016.

The B1G Offensive Lineman of the Year in 1998, Jansen spent five years at Michigan under head coaches Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, winning the 1997 National Championship in the process.

Selected by the Washington Redskins in the second round of the 1999 National Football League Draft, he spent 11 years in the league with the Redskins (1999-2008) and Detroit Lions (2009).

Ranked No. 14 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, Michigan is idle on Saturday. The Wolverines (7-2) will next be in action on November 16 vs. Michigan State (4-4).

Ohio State (8-0) hosts Maryland (3-6) on November 9 at 12:00PM ET on FOX.