The ISU football team made ending a four-game losing streak look easy in its upset of Texas Tech last week in Lubbock, Texas.

Now, the task shifts from avoiding a slide to gaining momentum through the latter half of the season for the Cyclones (4-4, 1-4 Big 12) as they host Kansas on Saturday.

However, the Cyclones find themselves in an unfamiliar position — they’re favored to win.

“It’s something that weren’t not used to, obviously,” said defensive end Jacob Lattimer. “Iowa State isn’t picked to be the team to come out on top. So it is unusual, I guess, in a way.”

ISU coach Paul Rhoads said his team’s 41-7 win over then-ranked Texas Tech was the first “complete game” from his team. His team is now presented with a new challenge, though.

“The challenge that we talked about is now that we’ve played a complete game, how good can we get in the last four games of the regular season?” Rhoads said. “They had fun Saturday night. They saw the success of a great week-long preparation and gameday execution, and they’re excited to see what we can add to that as we push forward.”

The Jayhawks (2-6, 0-5) come into the game having grown accustomed to the bottom of the Big 12 under coach Turner Gill, who is in his second year at the helm of the program.

But linebacker Jake Knott said Kansas is not a team to be taken lightly.

“Just because the Big 12 is good doesn’t mean Kansas is bad,” Knott said. “They’ve played so many good teams, they’ve played Oklahoma tight, they were beating Texas Tech by a lot. They’re a really solid and good team.”

Through its conference gauntlet, Kansas comes into Saturday’s game last in the FBS in both total defense and scoring defense, giving up 555.75 total yards per game and 49.5 points per game.

However, senior linebacker Steven Johnson has been a bright spot for the defense, tallying a league-leading 90 total tackles through eight games — a full 20 tackles more than Knott, who is second with 70.

The ISU offense is rolling, coming off a game in which it reeled off 368 rushing yards — the most in school history since 1999.

“Those are the great games, those are the games where you feel like you can do anything,” said offensive lineman Carter Bykowski. “You’re running the ball for four or five yards a pop and eating the clock up and when you run the ball like that, it opens up the offense too. If we need a pass play here and there, it really sets the tone for it.”

Against Texas Tech, running back Duran “Duck” Hollis ran for a career-high 101 yards on four carries — including a 71-yard touchdown run in the third quarter for a touchdown. Hollis’ performance came as a surprise to Rhoads.

“What I haven’t seen Duck do until Saturday night was run with the aggressiveness that he did in a game,” Rhoads said. “Early in the season, I thought he’s run tentative. I thought he’s covered the ball up like it’s always a short-yardage play and he’s worried about them stripping the ball.”

Coming into that game, Hollis had just nine rushing yards through six games played.

On offense, the Jayhawks are averaging one more point per game (26.4) than the Cyclones featuring a running game that ranks in the upper half in the nation, averaging 164.3 yards per game.

“The only time you’re going to [see] a true passing down is third-and-long, third-and-7 or more [against Kansas],” said ISU defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “So they’re running the ball, and their offensive line is very athletic, much better than you would think from what you’ve seen record-wise.”

Burnham said the Jayhawks’ use of two tight ends in run-blocking provides extra opportunities for holes to break open for the ball carrier. This will be met by an ISU defense that has allowed 206.8 rushing yards per game.

Kickoff is slated for 11:30 a.m. at Jack Trice Stadium.