There are no quick fixes, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini likes to say. There are probably no instant leaders, either.

But after two lackluster performances, NU's offense stand to get a few more..

The consensus, really, is that Huskers' O has one who's up front, center Jacob Hickman, and two supporting players behind him. We'll get to them in a minute.

“Hick's the guy who really captains all of our calls,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson. “He's a real leader.”

It's not necessarily common for a center to fill that role, although Dom Raiola and John Garrison did that years ago. But Hickman - a senior who's sampled nearly every offensive line position and thus knows the scheme as well as anyone – has been up to it.

A cerebral type, mature, already married, Hickman's a certain kind of leader, a strong, thoughtful hub of the Husker community. Ndamukong Suh happens to be that guy, too. Suh calls himself a “silent killer.” The phrase fits Hickman, to some extent, too, even if he's talking quite a bit during the game, calling out defensive line shifts.

But Hickman is not a red rump. I'd use another choice word, but we're still, you know, read by families and stuff. At any rate, he's not going to crawl down your skin. He's the good cop, the “calm down” guy.

“I get more annoyed when people yell at me than anything else, so I'd feel hypocritical if I got too riled up,” Hickman said.

But sometimes, he said, it's been necessary. Hickman stepped on the emotional gas pedal at Missouri, he said, getting the intended response in the fourth quarter. He did it again vs. Texas Tech, to no particular avail.

“I got a little frustrated,” Hickman said. “I got a little talkative.”

Who else?

“I don't really think we've had anyone stepping up and say “I'm the one taking control of this offense,'” tight end Mike McNeill said. “Hickman's done a good job, but I don't think we've had one guy who just stands out and says 'this is my offense, and I'm running it right now.'”

Said Hickman: “It really helps sometimes to have a guy get riled up like that.”

You already know Nebraska had that in 2008 with quarterback Joe Ganz.

“Nobody was quite as vocal as Joey,” Hickman said.

But the Huskers had Nate Swift, Todd Peterson and Matt Slauson, too. None of them had Ganz's swagger and personality, but each of them carried authority and experience.

Is the latter of those two traits always necessary for leadership? Not for head coaches, right? There are tons of first-timers, - Pelini included – who just have the “it” factor when it comes to commanding a group of men. They don't need to prove it at every level of football before they arrive in college.

With players, though – that's a leopard with different spots. For every Peyton Manning and Tommie Frazier, who just walks with an air of authority and confidence, there are thousands of guys who haven't properly paid their dues yet.

At a top five program, that's probably how it should be. For Nebraska, which aspires to get there again, a transformative leader wouldn't hurt. No matter what class they're in.

Besides Hickman, two names popped up from several sources for co-leaders: Roy Helu and Niles Paul. Paul does it, Hickman and Watson said, with his work ethic in practice. Helu's leadership skills are evident when you visit practice and talk to his teammates, but the junior, publicly modest, deflects all attention. Nebraska's best offensive player – the best Husker running back in a decade, from this vantage point – is thoughtful, lighthearted and sometimes deadly serious in the span of three minutes.

Is he healthy enough to put the team on his back?

“Roy's been hurt lately, which is tough,” Hickman said. “It's hard to be really in the forefront of leading when you've been hurt.”

Of course, Hickman was sick and a little hurt, too. Maybe not as much as Helu, but this season hasn't been sundaes and rose petals for No. 67.

Zac Lee was also establishing himself, Hickman said, but he's in the midst of a quarterback competition again.

“It's tough when you don't have many seniors out there,” Hickman said. “It's the nature of the game sometimes.”

Tougher still when you don't have many red rumps.

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