Carrying a four-game losing streak into a showdown with No. 19 Texas Tech, ISU coaches and players fielded questions about how the Cyclones would stop the nation’s fifth-best offense and how they would find an offensive rhythm in Jared Barnett’s debut at quarterback in an attempt to upset a Red Raiders squad that had just downed No. 3 Oklahoma in Norman the week before.

The answer to those questions was a convincing 41-7 road victory. The Cyclones bested the Red Raiders in all three facets of the game en route to their second win over a top 25 opponent on the road in head coach Paul Rhoads’ three seasons as head coach.

Now two days removed from that win, Rhoads has his own inquiry for his players and staff as they embark on the final quarter of the season.

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

Rhoads said that “without a doubt” the win in Lubbock marked the most complete performance from his team in his 33 games at the helm. Looking back at the film from Saturday’s game the coaching staff noticed only three missed tackles on defense, the lowest game total in Rhoads’ tenure.

“Especially for the open field tackles that you had to make against Texas Tech was what’s so impressive,” said ISU linebacker Jake Knott. “We were in the right spot and we just made the tackle finally instead of missing 10, 12 tackles a game we made the tackle right away, and I think that was huge in getting a win this week.”

On offense, Barnett and Co. rushed for a combined 368 yards, the first time that an Iowa State offense had eclipsed the 300-yard mark since 2001.

“For our running game to bust like it did this past weekend, it really helps our offense,” Barnett said. “It really allowed our time of possession to increase, we were able to pick up a lot of first downs, and that’s big time for our offense.”

After arriving in Ames just before 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, the team was back at practice on Sunday night beginning preparation for a struggling Kansas squad that has lost six straight, most recently a 43-0 defeat at Texas. The Cyclones (4-4, 1-4 in Big 12) are familiar with preparing for the Jayhawks (2-6, 0-6 in Big 12) after an upset win on the road. In 2010, Iowa State faced Kansas the week after knocking off No. 22 Texas 28-21 victory in Austin.

“I thought that was as big a victory on our schedule last year as any of the five because it came on the heels of that great victory,” Rhoads said of last year’s 28-16 win against Kansas.

Saturday will mark a first for Iowa State in Big 12 play this season. For the first time in their conference schedule, the Cyclones will be double-digit favorites as the Jayhawks come to Jack Trice Stadium. Second-year head coach Turner Gill’s squad has been outgained by 1,256 yards and outscored by 164 points during their 0-6 start in conference play, but Rhoads has made the point already this week that there’s no overlooking any team in the Big 12.

“They’re down a little bit right now, but we’re not expecting them to come in here and not play us,” Barnett said. “We’re expecting them to come in and be ready and to come out with nothing to lose and coming out playing hard.”

Kickoff for Saturday’s game is set for 11:30 a.m.