The email arrived last week. From a significant Memphis booster. He is not only letting go of his private suite at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium this year, he is not renewing his football season tickets.

Key observations from the Tigers’ depth chart

“Way too many frustrations about where we are as a program,” he wrote. “Bad place, bad time we are in for Memphis as it relates to the current climate in college sports. I’ve almost completely lost interest knowing this longtime fight to get a real shot with the big conference is never going to occur. Lots of time, money and energy wasted. This is a real thing among a growing group of Memphis fans who are not renewing tickets.”

It was one email, to be sure. But it feels representative of a certain sense of ennui that has settled around the program.

Memphis is preparing to play a massive game against Mississippi State Saturday.

Calkins: Seth Henigan is going to be good. Scary good.

Memphis could make it two wins in a row against the Bulldogs.

And a significant booster is writing me, telling me that “Lake time in the fall for the first time will be amazing.”

So that is the challenge for Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield. To restore the program’s lost momentum. The Tigers don’t necessarily have to beat Mississippi State. They don’t necessarily have to play in the conference championship game. But they have to win enough to persuade Memphis fans that the glory days of Tiger football are not behind them. And — let’s be completely clear about this — it doesn’t matter how young or old the team happens to be.

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I bring up that last point because Silverfield keeps bringing it up. It has become a theme of his press appearances.

A week ago, Silverfield took pains to point out that 42% of the players on the team’s two-deep depth chart are freshmen or sophomores.

“The reality is — no excuse, no explanations — but if you look on paper and say, ‘Look, the best recruiting classes in program history have been the last two years,’ then guess what, those guys are sophomores and redshirt freshmen. Or true freshmen. Those are 18- and 19-year-olds.”

Monday, Silverfield opened on the theme yet again, pointing out that Mississippi State has “a lot of veterans” in its lineup.

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“You look at our two-deep and you say, ‘Wow, young team,’” he said. “I think we have one of the youngest teams in the entire country. With over 70% of our roster being redshirt sophomores or younger.”

I don’t doubt Silverfield’s roster math. But the fact that he keeps mentioning it is at least disconcerting. Is it because he doesn’t expect the team to do well? Is he laying the groundwork for a disappointing season?

Silverfield keeps talking about “building the team the right way.” As if he is building for a moment sometime beyond this season. He even used the phrase “rebuilding” when he talked about the roster Monday.

But this simply can’t be a rebuilding year for Silverfield. For at least a couple of reasons.

First, it’s the guy’s third season as head coach. By the end of their third years at Memphis, both Justin Fuente and Mike Norvell had 10-win seasons. Silverfield didn’t take over a floundering program, either. He took over a conference champion.

Calkins: It might look a little different this year. But Memphis football is back.

Beyond that, nobody has time for rebuilding. Not when Memphis is still on the wrong side of the conference realignment divide. Next year, UCF, Houston and Cincinnati will have all left the American Athletic Conference. Will Memphis be poised to dominate what remains? Or will the program be overtaken by SMU, East Carolina and South Florida?

Every program can have a down year. The Tigers had a down year last year. But if you follow one down year with another down year, it begins to look like the new down reality.

So this is the season to win. This is the season to remind everyone how much fun Memphis football can be.

Do that, and fans will return from wherever they’ve gone. And they’ll bring their friends along with them.