Lee McCulloch's 26th-minute opener set Latics on the way but the rest of the damage was inflicted in the second half with Alan Mahon, Nathan Ellington (2) and Jason Roberts on target.
Ellington's double took him to the century mark in career goals and he passed up on the chance to further enhance that total by allowing Roberts to take a late penalty.
Jewell said: "Once we scored the second goal yesterday, it was like watching the Wigan of old play.
"You could see confidence flow back through the players and we looked a different team in the second half than we did in the first.
"I know it sounds daft after a 5-0 win, but we could have won the game by even more.
"We're going into a critical time of the season with a lot of matches to play and hopefully this will stand us in good stead."
Jewell wasn't particularly happy with the first half, despite McCulloch's sixth goal of the campaign giving Latics an interval lead.
And he felt it needed a refereeing decision in their favour and a strong half-time team talk to turn things round.
He added: "The scoreline flattered us a little bit as in the first half, Preston were well in the game and arguably a bit better than us without creating too many chances.
"Chris Lucketti's header being disallowed just before half-time was a decision which went our way, and sometimes you need some luck.
"I was delighted to get the lads in at half-time because they were looking edgy, and I just told to believe in themselves more.
"I told them they're a good team and had a chance of going back top of the league – although it doesn't mean a lot at this stage of the season, it is still a psychological boost.
"Scoring the second goal was important as after that, the spring was back in our step.
"It was good to see the Duke and Jason scoring again.
"Of course it would have been nice for Duke to score a hat-trick but allowing Jason to take the penalty will benefit the team in the long run.
"The more people talk about strikers not scoring and the more they read it in the papers, it can prey on their mind.
"Jason and Duke had been stuck on the 10 and 11 mark for quite some time, so hopefully they can kick on now.
"I would like to think they will go on a roll, it's something strikers tend to do."
Latics now have a one-point lead over Ipswich at the summit, with the sides meeting at Portman Road a fortnight tomorrow.
Jewell said: "A lot has been made of our recent results because we had such a fantastic start.
"Okay we lost a couple of matches, but we went into the Preston game unbeaten in two and now we're unbeaten in three.
"We have 44 points from 22 games, and two points a game is promotion form."
Latics have been drawn at Derby County in the third round of the FA Cup.
They willll travel to Pride Park on January 8, just under a fortnight after the teams meet at the JJB on Boxing Day in the league.