Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule says he was comparing freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola to Patrick Mahomes long before Raiola’s resemblance to the Kansas City Chiefs star made headlines.

“When I got here, I watched Raiola’s high school shot and texted our recruiting guy,” Rhule said on Tuesday’s episode of The Rich Eisen Show (1:00 in the video below.) “And he said, ‘What does he look like?’ And I said, ‘He’s Mahomes.’

“And not just the facial expressions and mannerisms. His arm, his ability to make throws off the platform, everything. That was my first instinct. Now it’s kind of funny to see all of them – I can’t look at Instagram without seeing someone put them side by side. But the great thing is he’s a winner, just like Patrick.”

Raiola helped Nebraska to three straight wins to start the season, completing 59 of 80 passes for 670 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.

The first-year quarterback has emphasized his resemblance to Mahomes through everything from dressing like the Chiefs star and mimicking his pregame ritual to executing sidearm passes during games.

Mahomes, who recently told reporters it was “cool” to see Raiola emulate him, praised the freshman after he threw a 59-yard touchdown pass against UTEP in his college debut.

“I don’t think it’s wrong for all of our players to have high expectations and believe in them,” Rhule said. “I believe Dylan has a chance to become one of the best players in the world at some point.”

“The key is, whether it’s him, whether it’s his family, whether it’s our players, whether it’s me – we all just have to make sure he keeps working at it and all of our players keep working at it.”

Nebraska has won by at least 18 points in all three of Raiola’s starts so far. Rhule noted that Raiola will continue to develop as he faces more adversity, which will likely happen later this season with upcoming games against No. 3 Ohio State and No. 11 USC.

“So far, he’s only had good days,” Rhule said. “And I told him that I’ve watched guys in the NFL and guys who have gone to the NFL, and at some point, you’re defined by your bad days and the way you react to those days.”

Rhule added, “I think the great thing about Dylan is that he stays so humble and grounded. He always knows who he is, and when he has a bad day, he bounces back.”

Raiola is scheduled to make his fourth start for the Cornhuskers when the No. 22 seed faces No. 24 Illinois at home on Friday night.