If the Kansas football players are having trouble falling asleep this week, it’s probably because they’ve been forced to watch a scary movie over and over in recent film sessions. The movie, filmed in mid-September of last year in Toledo, Ohio, features the Jayhawks floundering badly in a double-overtime defeat in front of a national television audience.

“We didn’t play well,” coach Mark Mangino said. “We didn’t do anything well. We didn’t coach well, we didn’t play special teams, and we didn’t take care of the ball. There hasn’t been a lot of talk about it, but I can see it. I’ve been around these kids long enough to know — I can sense that they’re technicians, and they’re getting ready to play this game.”

Mangino’s description of last year’s game certainly does the Jayhawks’ performance justice. The Kansas defense was stout as usual, only allowing 237 total yards and forcing Toledo to punt 12 times. But the Jayhawk offense gave the Rockets all the assistance they needed. Kansas turned the ball over five times, including a fumble in the first overtime and an interception in the second one, that all but handed Toledo the game. At the end of the messy affair, the Rockets came out on top, 37-31.

Judging by the attitudes of some of the Jayhawk players, that ugly memory could provide some inspiration come Saturday.

“We’re always looking for something to be mad about,” junior linebacker Joe Mortensen said. “And against this team, we have something to be mad about.”

Mortensen said that the team was focused on wiping the slate clean and treating the game like a new beginning, despite last year’s loss. After all, Kansas is a far different team than it was in its matchup last Sept. 15.

Sophomore quarterback Kerry Meier was responsible for all five of the team’s giveaways against the Rockets. Sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing, the team’s new commander, has yet to throw an interception or lose a fumble in the first two games this season.

In last year’s matchup, the now-transferred Blake Bueltel started at cornerback alongside now-second string senior safety Sadiq Muhammed. Replacing those two players are freshman cornerback Chris Harris and sophomore safety Darrell Stuckey. Though the season is young, both Harris and Stuckey should present Toledo with more resistance than their predecessors did.

When the Rockets and the Jayhawks take the field Saturday, each team will have a distinctly different look than it did last season. But every Jayhawk will undoubtedly remember what happened a year ago in Toledo.