Confidence is a key ingredient in any sport. In order to be successful, players and teams have to believe they’re going to be successful.

So, after a loss and a less-than-impressive victory, one has to wonder where No. 21 Oklahoma’s confidence level resides.

Sooner coach Bob Stoops admitted it wasn’t at the level of some of his past teams, but he still believes it is heading north.

“It’s building,” he said. “I can’t say that we’re just sky high, but our guys also know that we’re doing the right things. If we keep working hard there’s no reason we can’t continue to make improvement as we go through the year.”

It’s been well chronicled the Sooners are in a transition year. The players who erected OU’s gaudy 60-7 mark over the previous five seasons have, for the most part, moved on. Those teams built their confidence through consistent success in nearly every situation they faced.

Past success doesn’t guarantee a bountiful future. OU is discovering such success can’t be passed down like an heirloom. Each new group must earn its way.

“Confidence comes with work,” offensive coordinator Chuck Long said. “I’ll always believe that. Work, work, work is how you get confidence. Does it happen over night? No. It’s takes hard, diligent work and then they’ll start gaining confidence.”

Only so much of that work can be do done on the practice field or in the film room. No matter what players do in practice, they don’t fully gain the trust of their coaches until they perform well on the field.

The door swings both ways. Players need to see their hard work pay off on Saturday.

“You’re never judged until you’re in a game-time situation,” running back Kejuan Jones said.

He should know. He’s one of the few seniors on the Sooner offense with big-game experience.

Center Chris Chester will make his third start at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when OU faces UCLA at the Rose Bowl. He’s like several players, including quarterback Rhett Bomar, who are still going through the adjustment period, from the bench to the field.

“You never what it’s like to be in a game until you actually play in one,” Chester said. “In the first game, everything feels like it is going 100 miles per hour. Once you get in a couple games, you realize things aren’t as fast and chaotic as you may have believed it would be.”

That could be evidence the Sooners are starting to believe in themselves a little more. While last Saturday’s 31-15 victory over Tulsa left much to be desired, it was an improvement.

Whether or not that translates any further against UCLA remains to be seen. The Sooners are confident they have started righting the ship, but they won’t experience clear sailing until they’ve achieved sustained success.