It's hard to identify which moments of an NFL season will end up being the pivotal points that swing the year until after the season is done.

But the days leading up to Chargers Week 8 primetime matchup could very well be one of those times when it's all said and done.

"We won't know until we look back on it however many weeks from now," Khalil Mack told Chargers.com.

The Chargers stood at 4-3, coming off a tough loss, the third in four games, and had to quickly turn the page with a Thursday night game on deck.

The disappointment was noticeable throughout the team, but it was felt especially in a defensive unit that wanted to get back in rhythm after a few uncharacteristic games.

Needing to figure things out, they took the couple of days in the lead up to the game to put things into action in all facets.

Mack — a future Hall of Famer — was a driving force, only this time taking a slightly different approach than he usually does.

"I wouldn't say I'm never vocal, but I'm vocal when I need to be," Mack said. "I feel like [that] week was one of the moments that I needed to be a little more vocal."

Mack's leadership has been well talked about at this point in his Hall of Fame career — he sets the tone on and off the field.

The 12-year veteran, an unquestioned leader since he arrived, works as hard as anyone on the team throughout the calendar year and is known as a lead-by-example kind of player who speaks up in his own impactful way.

And having seen his fair share of seasons in the NFL, he knows how to give the team what it needs at any given point from a leadership standpoint, both on and off the field.

Knowing the situation, he made sure to set the tone from the start of the week, being very direct on what kind of week the team needed to have.

"At times like this it takes more than just talking. It takes a little more action," Mack said at the podium the Monday before the game. "Just want to see a lot more action-based things at this pivotal time of the season."

This particularly week, however, Mack led the way in manner that he felt was needed.

It was one where the veteran still showed the same hard work he normally does but also had a vocal presence that needed to be had.

What a player of Mack's caliber says speaks so loudly that Tuli Tuipulotu felt it was needed in that moment.

"It was a lot more vocal. He talked to us, we had meetings with players just watching over the film," Tuipulotu recalled. "He was just doing what he does. He saw where we were at after the game and he felt like he needed to step in.

"And we did, we needed his leadership," Tuipulotu added. "We're grateful for that."

Tuipulotu, now in his third season, has seen up close the type of impact Mack makes on the group on a daily basis.

For a player like Mack to speak up the way he did, Tuipulotu said it was something that stood out even more.

"100 percent. When guys like that talk, everybody listens," Tuipulotu said. "Especially if he's not the type to talk a lot, whenever he talks everybody listens.

"We all buy into what he says because he's done great things in this league," Tuipulotu added. "He knows what needs to be done."

It was just Mack continuing to be himself when the team needed it in a crucial week.

"I don't know if it was different, or just the communicating aspect of it," Mack said. "Just being myself but also saying the words that everyone needs to hear in certain moments."

Mack later added: "It's a little bit of that in there, but it's also a mix of the energy, focus and attention to detail and being intentional at practice as well as on game day. Just understanding what we want to be."

And by the time it was gameday just a few days later, the work the team put in had them feeling like they were in a good spot.

"We felt really good about how the game was going to go based on what we saw for three days," Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter said. "He is the ultimate leader and a guy that, his presence is felt."

Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh added: "Things that some people think aren't cool, he does. So if the coolest guy is doing something then anybody else is going to think it's cool. Understand that if it's working for Khalil, it's got a good chance of working for them."

It didn't take long to see the difference in the Chargers defense and team once the game kicked off.

The Bolts controlled the entire game, outgaining the Vikings in yards 419 to just 164 yards and held them to just 12 first downs in the game.

Mack did what he normally does, notching a sack, tackle for loss and forced fumble to go along with five total pressures.

"He set the tone: sack, tackles, pressures, being a great leader that he is, coming in each and every day ready to work," Bud Dupree said about Mack. "That's how you do it, lead by example.

"He doesn't really talk a lot, he leads by example," Dupree added. "He puts the work in, make sure people see when he puts the work in. When it's time to make a play, he's one of those guys you can count on."

Minter added: "There's guys that are out there and are really good players and there's guys that are out there that make everybody better. I would say Khalil is definitely one of those type of guys."

The Chargers would go on to finish a dominant victory over the Vikings. Coupled with a Week 9 road win over the Titans, they are now 6-3 heading into Week 10.

It might have been the midway point of the season, but Mack has seen enough to know this part of the year is more than that — and he was a driving force in making sure that moment swung in a positive direction for the Bolts.

"Getting back in the win column was super important, especially at this point of the year where teams tend to separate themselves," Mack said. "We just want to be separating ourselves in a positive way, not in a negative way."

As for the way he led that week it's not something that needs to be said, it's something that's felt.

Every week in the NFL is different.

"It's an energy thing. It's an energy feeling," Mack said. "In order to get the energy back, some words need to be said. I feel like everybody said what needed to be said [that] week.

"This week is a new week and you got to treat it as such, especially if the energy is off, that's when the words will come back," Mack added. "But ultimately, it's the action that drives everything."

This season has already been a busy one for Mack who continues to find his groove after an elbow injury in Week 2 knocked him out for four games.

Instead of dwelling on his first Injured Reserve stint as a member of the Chargers, however, the veteran was right back to work to get back at the soonest date possible.

"It was frustrating, but it's not what happens to you it's how you handle it," Mack said. "I just tackled every week like we were playing the Super Bowl and I had to get back.

"That kind of helped my momentum and grind and speed through the process even though it was a gruesome injury," Mack added. "It kept me on point to hurry up and get back to full strength."

That Super Bowl mindset shows up in everything Mack does, as it is what continues to push the veteran through his 12^th season.

The future Hall of Famer mulled retirement this past offseason, but is still determined to reach the mountaintop, has returned to the Chargers on his quest.

Even though it may be a year-by-year thing at this point in the 34-year-old's career, it's not something that's at the top of his mind.

His mind is on the now in this pivotal moment of the year having crossed the halfway point of the season — the rest will come after.

"I feel like you got to savor all the moments and you got to be present in the present moment," Mack said. "That's why it's called the present, the gift of the moment. It's never really looking back or savoring too long because it's a week-to-week league.

"It's important to be present and be where your feet is at," Mack added. "I feel like ultimately, I wait to reminisce on the moments. Especially in-season."