MINNEAPOLIS -- Ameer Abdullah and Theo Riddick talk about it every day. The small things they see. The little things they try to be better running backs on Sundays.

They don't discuss numbers, but what they've studied, what they've learned -- the patience they have to possess. Then on Sundays, Riddick and the other running backs become added insight for Abdullah. He comes to the sidelines. He tells them what he sees. They respond with what they see.

It's a formula that, this season, has seemed to work. Abdullah has consistently been a smart runner. He has hit holes when they've been there and found ways to gain yards even when those holes are nonexistent.

That led to Sunday, when Abdullah came close to 100 yards. More important, the Lions might have found a strong, consistent lead rusher.

"How can we get better at little details in the runs and we're always trying to be another set of eyes when he's out there so we can be like, 'Hey, slow down just a little bit here. Do this and that, so he can make minor adjustments,' " Riddick said. "He trusts what we see and we're all communicating with our running back coach.

"Ameer's just doing a phenomenal job, man."

Sunday against the Vikings might have been his best work. The Lions still haven't had a 100-yard rusher since Reggie Bush in 2013, but Abdullah's 94 yards before injuring his foot in the fourth quarter were a career best. He could have returned -- both he and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said that -- but ended up not re-entering, staying six yards short.

When he was in, he was sharp. He turned out big gains and rarely got stopped for a loss. Including when holes never showed, like on his 3-yard touchdown run when his own effort created a score.

This is different than prior years, when the most consistent thing said about Detroit's run game was that it was inconsistent. For every breakout that seemed to be coming, the Lions then broke down a few weeks later.

Abdullah seems to be showing something a little bit different now. And if that happens, it changes the direction of Detroit's offense.

"It definitely makes us more diverse, more potent," Abdullah said. "I feel like we have a solid run game. We know what we got outside, we know what we got at quarterback, so consistency is what I'm looking for."

He has averaged over 3.3 yards per carry in each of the past three games -- not great numbers but getting better. In two of those three -- Sunday against Minnesota and in Week 2 against the Giants -- he averaged 4.7 yards per carry or better.

He's also getting the ball often, which has helped. That showed against Minnesota. As he kept playing, he dissected where small creases might open, particularly on one run when he appeared to be headed left and in a split-second cut back right and turned a potential tackle for loss into an 8-yard gain. Another time, a cutback resulted in an 11-yard pickup.

These are the types of runs for which the Lions drafted Abdullah for in the second round three years ago. He made open-field tacklers miss, too, a quality that made him intriguing coming out of Nebraska. As he establishes himself, these runs show up more. And they've been more consistent as games go along, and as he and the running backs figure out what opposing linebackers are doing.

"It all depends on how the linebackers play. You can't go in a game and solely think, oh, they are fast this way, they are slow this way," Riddick said. "You just kind of have to get a feel for it and he did that and as you can see, his vision was getting wider and wider and he was getting more patient and it was definitely helping him."

It started early, too, with a 29-yard, first-quarter run in which the hole was opened and he timed it perfectly. These are the things they practice for -- but hadn't been hitting -- for a while now. It was the big run the Lions had been waiting for. It also gave the Lions confidence their run game would be there.

It shows his potential. His personal goals have always been high. After missing most of last season because of a Lisfranc injury, he said he believed he could still be a premier NFL running back even though his rookie year was average and his second year was mostly missed due to injury.

So it's not surprising Abdullah wasn't glowing about his performance. He didn't consider this a big game. Labeled it both "solid" and "borderline good, but not great at all."

"I feel like we've been close to those throughout the course of the first four games," right guard T.J. Lang said. "It was just nice to finally hit a big one. Not every run is going to be a 20-yard gain, 30-yard gain, whatever it was.

"It's something that we know his capabilities, the type of talent that he has. He's capable of doing that any time he touches the ball."

Abdullah felt Sunday was "just doing my job, I feel like." It's the type of job -- 94 yards, controlling the pace of the game, making few errors -- the Lions would take all the time if they could. And if he can do it consistently, it'll change how teams can try to defend Detroit's offense.