It was three years ago this week (June 7, 2017) when Oklahoma officially handed the keys to Lincoln Riley to drive the Sooners football bus.

All this week, SoonerScoop.com is going to be a reflection of ‘Riley at 3 years,’ highlighting some of his important moments on and off the field and what’s to come in year No. 4 and beyond.

Riley at 3 years – Chase for No. 8

As we enter year No. 4 and beyond for Riley, there’s really only one thing left. It’s locking down national championship No. 8.

Because for as good as things have been in Norman under Riley, as impressive as the 36-6 record is and three Big 12 championships, a lot of people just see the 0-3 in the college football playoff as the only stat that means something.

When OU lost to Alabama in the 2018 Orange Bowl, Riley was adamant about the program being ‘this close’ toward getting No. 8. After the 63-28 loss in the Peach Bowl to eventual national champion LSU, however, a little different tune.

The wins have been nice, but the losses illustrate what still needs to be done.

“We know we’ve got to continue to get better personnel,” said Riley after the Peach Bowl. “Right now, we’ve got a lot of good personnel, but there’s still a handful of teams across the country, from top to bottom, that have better personnel than we do. That just is what it is. We’ve got good personnel. We’ve got a lot of good individual players, but we got to continue to build talent base across the whole team, and I think especially defensively.”

It's something Riley had to figure out on his own. Had to fall to get back up and bring in someone like Alex Grinch to lead the defense. The one-year improvement under Grinch and his #SpeedD style was probably better than anybody could have imagined.

Now it’s the next step. It’s not patting on the back for job well done in 2019, but what can this group do to get even closer in 2020?

“We’re closing the gap. There’s no doubt we are,” Riley said. “I think a lot of the things that need to happen are being done, it’s just there’s not always the immediate results we always want. That’s just part of building it.”

Riley had to take over for the 2018 class midway through the cycle and did what he could to earn a No. 8 ranking. In his first full year, the 2019 class ranked No. 5 by Rivals. This is the group that should set up the Sooners for an incredibly bright future.

And maybe even the present. You look at the talent on both sides of the ball and point toward 2021 being the best Riley-led team at OU. But if they can accelerate the curve just a bit, nothing on the 2020 schedule says that team can’t make a run.

The defensive execution in 2017-18 left a lot to be desired, and there had to just as much emphasis on building the confidence back up as there was on scheme and identity.

Both had the checkmark for 2019, so the starting point is a lot different this time around. The defense knows it can perform. Now it’s about doing it, about playing to that standard every single time.

“It’s the expectation when they walk in the door, and now I think it’s instilled in a lot of our players,” Riley said. “Not that it’s done, but I think they’ve got an idea of what it looks like. And so I think the expectations are higher.

“I think all the new guys that come in over the next several years are going to walk in and have a chance to get — you see what we’ve done in 12 months; what can we do with these guys and our coaches being together for 24 months or 36 months? What does it look like? We think it looks pretty good.”

As successful as OU has been, it’s not lost on its fans that 2000, that championship No. 7, was now 20 years ago. That the kids being recruited by the revamped staff don’t remember names like Josh Heupel, Rocky Calmus and Roy Williams, among others, making that magical run. It’s time for No. 8, and Riley is the one who can get OU to that spot.

“To win like we have is, I know people take it for granted, but it’s frickin’ hard to do, man,” Riley said. “I mean, it is hard to do. I know we all want to take that next step. And everybody in this program wants to, and everybody knows that we’re going to. But it’s been pretty good, too. But they’re all hard, man. Every single one.”