What a difference a year makes. A season ago, the Nevada-Las Vegas football team was gearing up for the most anticipated campaign in its 33-year history.

The school’s first-ever top 25 preseason ranking by Sports Illustrated, multiple dates with national television, a schedule peppered with nationally intriguing opponents, a handful of pro prospects pulling on the pads, even a honest-to-goodness Heisman Trophy campaign all combined to kick interest in Rebel football to an all-time high.

Then the season began. The Rebels lost their first four games en route to a 4-7 record.

“We got off to a tough start and we never found a way to make the key plays,” coach John Robinson said. “The team worked hard and wanted to be successful, but I think it got caught in the trap of just assuming that the positives from the year before would just carry over.”

Disappointment about not hitting a higher level was expected. But a complete dismissal of the development of the program would be a mistake. Even Robinson believes the victory total is deceiving from a season that saw his team suffer five of its seven losses by an average of five points each.

“It was not like we were suddenly an awful team,” Robinson said. “If we had played the last minute of games better, we would have had a successful season. We didn’t do the little things well and didn’t finish. That was the exact opposite of the team before it (which went 8-5 and won a bowl game), so that is obviously something hard to predict.”

Now, with the guts of the skilled group back six starters on each side of the ball along with both kickers and the national expectations receded, Robinson’s fourth Rebel team may get back to surprising folks.

Several transfers will likely make an impact.

Those new people include the traditional collection of junior college standouts as well as two potential starting blockers from a disbanded program at Cal State Northridge. Also, after a NCAA-mandated year on the sidelines, two tailbacks, a linebacker and safety from the Pac-10, Big 12 and SEC will be in the picture.

“We will have some new faces from other schools that are really frontline players,” Robinson said. “They were proven and sought-after players. When you come from a junior college, you are making a major step up and the adjustment usually takes a while. When you transfer from another four-year program, it’s a little bit like bringing in a free agent in the NFL. You already have a sense of what the pace is like and what the demands are. I suspect that these four men will bring a maturity that will help us tremendously.”

Deon Burnett (Washington State) and Larry Croom (Arizona) could challenge Joe Haro, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards last year, for the starting tailback job.

On defense, Iowa State transfer Tyrone Tucker was the leading tackler in the spring game. Another defensive standout was Trent Williams, who started his college career at Marshall.