Texas A&M football needs to get used to having a target on their back under Mike Elko

Texas A&M football has thrived as the hunter. Now, they need to get used to becoming the hunted.

The Aggies currently sit at 8-3 following a gut-punch loss to the Auburn Tigers on the road in quadruple overtime. It was as close as it gets in that kind of game, and there's all sorts of Monday morning quarterbacking we can do now that the game is over, but the plain fact is that it shows up as an L.

Still, the margins were extremely thin. If Keandre Lambert-Smith bobbles his catch, and Amari Daniels makes the grab, then the storylines are about this team overcoming adversity in a tough environment to set up a huge game. That's how close we were to a complete narrative swing.

But the fact is, this is where this Texas A&M football team is.

How did they get here?

We've seen a big culture shift in the Texas A&M program since the arrival of Mike Elko. The team is playing much more to their potential, even throughout some very unfortunate injuries.

But Rome wasn't built in a day. Sometimes, there's a fuller culture shift that needs to take place that can't happen in just one year.

This Aggie team, if they want to be successful, needs to learn how to win as the favorite—the big time team competing against the little guy.

To this point in the season, they're not there. Twice this month alone, the Aggies have rolled into raucous environments, fans ardently seeking a huge win, and they have given them just what they were looking for. The Aggies have been two teams' best win of the year; a pivot point for both South Carolina and Auburn.

While their opponent was just another team, that opponent viewed A&M as their chance to make a statement. In both games, the home team raced out to a huge lead—even though the Aggies battled back, it was a slow start that doomed them in the end.

If you want to be a contender—if you want to be a championship-level program—you have to learn how to come into these environments with a killer mentality. Instead, the Aggies have been on their back foot almost immediately.

Elko is getting this program where it needs to go. But there's another, important step that needs to be taken.

Hopefully, we see them take that step soon.