Prior to Monday’s practice, Brent Venables suggested to his defense in a meeting that maybe the Clemson team that has yielded 574 rushing yards in the last three games is who they are.

“Maybe the first part of the season, whatever it was, the first five or six games, was smoke and mirrors,” Clemson’s defensive coordinator said on Tuesday. “They did not like that, which I like. It was a very quiet room and when I said that, there were a lot of guys that started to get a little PO (pissed off).”

Mad is how top-ranked Clemson has played most of the season on defense, which at one point was ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation in total defense, and as high as No. 5 in rushing defense. But for some reason, they lost their edge.

Guys that were making plays and staying disciplined in wins over Notre Dame, Georgia Tech and Miami, were out of position or trying to do too much against NC State, Florida State and Syracuse.

“I thought they were PO all season and had an edge to them. They were out to prove something,” Venables said.

Venables is not a guy that likes to compare one player to the next or year to the other. But last year, when the Tigers led the nation in total defense, and week in and week out played with reckless abandonment and an attitude that helped them get better with each game, he could not help but bring up in the team meeting.

“As a player I always tried to look to see who is doing it right and who does Coach keep praising. I’m going to try and emulate that. What is that? I need to have me some of that,” Venables said. “Last year’s group, all the way until Coach (Dabo) Swinney made us pull them off the field, whenever it was, third or fourth quarter, against Oklahoma, they were mad. They weren’t finished.

“That was super cool. You would love to bottle that up. There were enough guys that witnessed that, I think, they can relate to that. They understand what I’m talking about. I’m not throwing words out there and trying to throw anyone under the bus. That’s what made that group so special. And that was a special one.”

But this year’s defense has a chance to still be special, too. Despite the issues the last few weeks, the Tigers rank among the best in the country. They rank seventh nationally in total defense (290.8), third in passing defense (159.6) and first in third down defense, and the number of first downs allowed.

“We have to get (the run defense) fixed, but we are still No. 1 in a few defensive categories and we are top 20 in every category just about,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I think we are No. 25 in rushing. I think that might be our worst statistic, and that is because we have given up some big plays these last few weeks.”

The Tigers gave up 243 yards last week on seven plays, and three of those, according to Swinney, were a direct result of coaching.

“We did not give them a chance to be successful. That’s coaching,” Swinney said.

The other four? He said players did not do their job, and they did not execute.

“Those seven plays, those are some thing we have to get fixed,” Swinney said.

Swinney pointed out this is still a good defensive football team, and he said the Tigers would not be 10-0 if was not for how they have played this year. Venables says his group is capable of being a pretty special unit. They just have to want it.

“We don’t stink,” he said. “We have made some stinky plays, but we don’t stink.”