Paul Rhoads doesn’t have his team focused on the 2013 football season as a whole. He doesn’t even have them focused on the Cy-Hawk game at the end of the week.

Instead, he has his squad focusing on the practices leading up to Saturday’s in-state clash and the very few chances they have left to improve.

“You’re not looking at the entire 2013 and where you want to get this team,” Rhoads said at his weekly news conference. “I’m focused on Tuesday’s practice and the improvement that we need to make there. [We] have really shaped these practices to give us preparation and aid in practicing through the heat and getting our training camp legs back.”

This year carries its fair share of distractions to tempt the thoughts of each player away from the next practice.

“I think you really need to have single-mindedness of purpose moving forward on a daily basis with this football team,” Rhoads said.

For the first time under Rhoads, the team heads into the Cy-Hawk game with a losing record after its 28-20 loss against Northern Iowa on Aug. 31.

ISU running back Jeff Woody, when asked if the fact that both teams have a loss takes anything away from the upcoming game, jokingly answered back: “Do you think it takes anything away from the game? … Whether it’s brother to brother or friend to friend, you’re going to be a lot more apt [to talk trash], or at least I would be if I was talking about the loss and whose was worse. I think it’s going to stoke the fire a little bit more as we’re going forward in this week.”

Injuries have been a concern, too. Quarterback Sam Richardson wore a walking boot for all of last week and stayed out of practice as a precaution. Tom Farniok — the offensive lineman with the most starts under his belt — is still recovering from a knee injury, and starting tight end Ernst Brun Jr. is also nursing leg cramps suffered against Northern Iowa.

Despite all the distractions that come with the biggest football game in the state, senior safety Jacques Washington said he’s not distracted and is setting an example for the younger players.

“Not for me,” Washington said. “I enjoy the process and getting better at something each day. Obviously it is for a lot of young players, thinking about Saturday, but you’ve got to get through Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday first.”