Pete Jenkins’ suggestions for the LSU defense seemed to come straight from Tiger fans’ message boards and call-in shows.

The first thing the 83-year-old, retired defensive line guru did after being brought in as a fix-it consultant last week was move the Tigers’ front four up tighter to the line of scrimmage.

The same thing had puzzled all the purple-and-gold armchair experts since the start of the season.

It was hardly a magic elixir — Jenkins had only three days to work with the Tigers before the Missouri game but is expected to stay on through the end of the season — as Missouri still rang up 527 yards.

But at this stage of the season, head coach Brian Kelly is looking for any bright spots and thought he spotted some, especially over the final three quarters.

“We feel there’s some light there at the end of the tunnel for our defense,” Kelly said. “We’re going to have to have some more progress on the back end of our defense, but we feel like the progress we made up front is sustainable.”

Mizzou, which led 25-17 at the half, managed 14 points in the second half as the Tigers rallied for a 49-39 win. That came on the heels of giving up 21 fourth-quarter points the previous game in a 55-49 loss to Ole Miss.

Some other changes came from the full-time staff — Jenkins, although making technique suggestions, has no role in game-planning or game-day calls.

The four-man front, for instance, figures to be the Tigers’ mainstay in place of three up there.

It’s partly the final solution in finding a comfortable spot for their best defender, linebacker Harold Perkins Jr.

“When we’re in four down linemen, we can really designate his position as the SAM (outside linebacker)/nickel back and play a little bit of a hybrid with him,” Kelly said. “We feel he’s athletic enough that he can be on the field even if we want to play some nickel.”

Perkins, Kelly said, was more at the nickel spot when he made the interception that seemed to change the tone of the game in the second quarter.

“It just gives us a lot more flexibility,” Kelly said. “We can do a lot more things with him. It doesn’t have to change week to week with a new teaching progression. I just wish we had gotten to it sooner, but we’ve got the right front now.”

It showed, Kelly said, notably with an edge rusher lining up more like a lineman, hopefully to make what had been an underachieving front three perhaps into an improved front four.

Defensive tackle Maason Smith, for instance, a five-star disappointment after sitting out the first game and struggling through the next five, had his best game, Kelly said.

“We only look for him to get better and better each week,” he said.

The secondary, Kelly admitted, still needs work with a lot of young and inexperienced faces.

“There needs to be continued improvement at the back end. If we do that, we feel like we’re finally moving in the right direction.”