Exeter boss Rob Baxter says the prospect of Saturday's European Challenge Cup semi-final at Ulster is a measure of how far the club has progressed this season.
A year ago the Chiefs had just suffered a club-record 79-17 loss at Gloucester and dispensed with the services of long-serving coaches Rob Hunter and Ali Hepher.
It was the nadir of a campaign which saw them win just four league matches and also lose all of their European fixtures.
Now they are fourth in the Prem and have a European semi-final as they prepare for a key month of games.
"Now, it would feel really disappointing if we don't see something off or get to at least one big game," Baxter said.
"Getting this far and then slipping up and maybe not getting to the final of the European competition, or maybe dropping out of the top four so we don't get to a semi-final, it would actually feel quite disappointing now because we've got to where we are.
"But if you'd have flipped it around and someone said last season 'next season, you're going to be chasing these things now' everyone would have gone 'yeah, we'll take it and it's going to be brilliant and that'll be fine'; this shows you how sport is."
Alongside coaching changes, Exeter brought in a number of experienced players over the summer.
The likes of Len Ikitau, Andrea Zambonin, Stephen Varney and Tom Hooper have added know-how to a group of talented young players like Greg Fisilau and Paul Brown-Bampoe.
For many of the Chiefs side it will be their first taste of a high-pressure knockout game - the club has not made the Prem play-offs in five years and or won a European knockout game in the past two seasons before the current campaign.
"It feels daunting and it's a challenge and this is tough, but the reality is it's brilliant," adds Baxter.
"It's brilliant to be in the European semi-final. It's brilliant to be in the top four of the Premiership.
"They're fantastic opportunities for us and what I've got to do is just keep guiding the guys [in a way] that brings the best out of us, not the worst out of us."
May will be a defining month for the Sandy Park side, both at home and in Europe.
Chiefs also face Prem leaders Bath at home, Harlequins at Twickenham, a possible European final and a trip to third-placed Leicester before the end of the month.
"The season now for us is going to be defined by the next month of fixtures, and that's it," Baxter added.
"So May will determine whether we feel really good about ourselves, or we feel okay about ourselves, or we feel bad about ourselves.
"It's a really interesting scenario this next month of fixtures."