It had been 35 days since the ISU football team had suffered a loss when they traveled to Norman, Okla., on Saturday.

After a 26-6 loss to the Sooners, ISU coach Paul Rhoads compared the mindset of his team to that of the team that had just lost three straight before rattling off three straight conference wins.

“A little over a month ago we came out of the Texas A&M loss having played better and gaining confidence because of that, we exit the Oklahoma loss with no downgrade in that confidence level,” Rhoads said at a press conference on Monday. “I think we have a football team that’s playing our best football of the year.”

The Cyclones will end their third regular season under Rhoads on Saturday as they’ll travel to Manhattan, Kan., for a matchup with No. 11 Kansas State (9-2, 6-2 in Big 12).

Over the last month, Iowa State’s defense has been one of the best units in the Big 12 allowing the fewest points (18.5) of any Big 12 team over the last four games. However, Iowa State’s offensive struggles on Saturday — fewest total yards (245) and points (6) of the season — thwarted a chance at its first sweep of both Oklahoma schools since 1961.

After rushing for 301 yards in wins over Texas Tech, Kansas and Oklahoma State, the Sooners forced ISU redshirt freshman quarterback Jared Barnett to beat them with his arm by, at times, rushing only two defenders and assigning one or two other players to spy him to prevent him from scrambling on pass plays.

“[It was] a great scheme to take his legs out of it on the pass game,” Rhoads said. “They really made him have to throw the ball out of the pocket if we were going to be successful in the pass game.”

Oklahoma’s defensive scheme keyed Barnett’s first loss as a starter as the Garland, Texas, native completed only 13 of 28 passes, threw an interception and was held to only 21 yards on the ground. Barnett expects to see some similar defensive looks from the Wildcats who rank fifth in the Big 12 in total defense.

“It’s a different thing seeing it, and now that I’ve had that experience, I know what we can do to make sure that we’re still productive whenever defenses are playing like that,” Barnett said.

With bowl eligibility already under their belt, the Cyclones will try and keep their current level of confidence steady throughout the final month of the season.

“We go into the month of December with an opportunity to earn two more victories, a position any coach would like their program to be in here at the end of the season,” Rhoads said.

Kickoff for Saturday’s game in Manhattan, Kan., is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.