Nebraska fans are probably as tired of hearing the stat as they are of seeing the product on the field — the Cornhuskers are still winless in 2018 and still have the nation’s second-longest losing streak.

They are still off to their worst start since 1945. And that stat is going to get worse if Nebraska doesn’t defeat Northwestern this week because that 1945 team won its last four to finish 4-5.

Yet for all of the teeth-grinding in Lincoln and around the whole Big Red state, there are positives which the Cornhuskers can take out of Saturday’s 41-24 loss to Wisconsin in Madison.

First, the Badgers are the Big Ten West Division favorite, especially after beating Iowa on Sept. 22. Wisconsin was coming off of a bye week before the Nebraska game and appears to have recovered from its shocking loss to BYU.

Second, and more important, against the Badgers the Cornhuskers offense started to resemble its intended design under new coach Scott Frost.

Adrian Martinez passed for a career-high 384 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. The Cornhuskers took advantage of an inexperienced Badgers secondary.

J.D. Spielman had a monster day, catching nine passes for a career-high and program record 209 yards including a 75-yard touchdown, Nebraska’s longest play of the season. Spielman broke his own Cornhuskers record for receiving yards in a game, which he set last season against Ohio State. The long TD came very early in the third quarter and gave the Cornhuskers a spark, if only temporarily:

Another takeaway for Nebraska is that its defense played pretty well early. Wisconsin started with a very Wisconsin drive — 15 plays, 63 yards, 7:52 time of possession — but the Cornhuskers yielded only a field goal. The third Badgers drive also produced only a field goal after nine plays and 41 yards.

Nebraska’s defense wore down badly in the second half, but Badgers running back Jonathan Taylor and that famously stout Wisconsin offensive line does that to teams all the time.

All in all, a loss is a loss and Big Red Nation’s patience is being tested like never before — or at least not since the World War II era. But Saturday’s performance against a very solid Wisconsin team could help Frost and the Cornhuskers gain some confidence and put together some building blocks which could lead to victories, sooner rather than later.