The Sun Devils can only hope that is the case Saturday night when they will try to avoid becoming top-ranked Nebraska's 27th consecutive victim.
"He has come up big in the past," linebackers coach Lyle Setencich said. "We need him to come up big in this game, too."
Von der Ahe had 10 solo tackles and 13 overall, both career highs, last year against eventual Pac-10 champion Southern California.
His next-best game - 11 tackles, including seven solo - came against the Cornhuskers.
But that was something like doing a sand painting in a twister: Nobody noticed afterward because Nebraska gained 680 yards, scored 10 touchdowns from scrimmage and beat Arizona State 77-28.
"We were kind of shaking our heads, saying, 'Man, this team is good,'" quarterback Jake Plummer said.
"They knew we could move the ball offensively, and they didn't even care about that. Their offense was so powerful it didn't matter if we scored 55 points. They still would have beaten us."
The game accelerated Arizona State's descent to the bottom in Pac-10 defensive statistics, where the Sun Devils finished last in rushing and passing yardage allowed, scoring defense, sacks and preventing other teams from succeeding on third down.
The Sun Devils return nine defensive starters, and Von der Ahe says they are "faster, stronger and bigger.
"But the main difference is you know what to do. I mean, the first game last year, I was just running around half the time and never knew what to do until way into the season. Now it seems like the whole defense has the concept."
The prospect of a better defense helped Arizona State to a preseason ranking for the first time in nine years.
After two wins, they have moved from No. 20 to No. 17.
Still, the improvement isn't readily apparent. The Sun Devils allowed Washington to score three TDs in the last eight minutes before beating the Huskies by a field goal. And they have yielded 49 points to 43 at this stage a year ago.
But Von der Ahe believes his unit will make a better showing against Nebraska, a 55-14 winner over Michigan State so far.
"We've got to rely on our defense to win," he said. "I mean, to beat Nebraska you've got to outscore them, and that means you've got to do something to their offense."
Forcing turnovers may help, although he said the Huskers are so productive turnovers don't always affect their games.
"Even if they put the ball on the ground one time, they can still have nine times where they don't," Von der Ahe said.
Still, Von der Ahe hopes almost everyone will be able to run with the Huskers, who taught Arizona State a new meaning for speed last year.
"Nebraska is like a different kind of speed," he said. "You've got to be on your horse and running, or you're going to be on the ground somewhere. You've got to make quick decisions."