The game has a life all its own. It takes over the majority of a state that doesn’t have professional sports teams to support. It causes arguments and bad blood — even among family members.

It’s the Iowa-Iowa State rivalry.

“It’s a big game. There’s bragging rights, there’s recruiting ramifications,” said coach Paul Rhoads. “But more importantly, it’s a game we’ve gotten whipped in the last two years. Nobody likes to get whipped”

Both Cyclone and Hawkeye fan bases know what the rivalry has been like in the past. Iowa leads the overall series 39-19, with a stretch of 15 straight wins from 1983-97.

Players and coaches who were a part of the rivalry at the time will freely admit it wasn’t so much a rivalry as it was an almost-automatic “W” for the Hawkeyes.

“There is no rivalry when one team just dominates like that — who are we kidding — everybody knew for 15 years who was going to win the game,” said former ISU coach Dan McCarney. “When you break into that and stop that and turn that thing completely around like we did, then it makes it a lot more fun for everyone.”

McCarney would know all about the rivalry, having played and coached for Iowa. The current North Texas head man started coaching for Iowa in 1977 under Bob Cummings before eventually taking over at Iowa State and making ISU fans believe it truly was a rivalry again.

While McCarney only went 56-85 as coach of the Cyclones, he was one of only three coaches to post a winning record against the Hawkeyes at 6-5. The only other two were Pop Warner, who went 2-1 from 1895-99 (when the game was played every other year), and Donnie Duncan, who went 3-1 from 1979-82.

“Me being an Iowa City [native] and coach McCarney being an Iowa City [native], I think we put even a little bit extra into the game,” said former Cyclone center Zach Butler. “For me it was more of a pride thing, and I put a huge emphasis on it just like the other guys did.”

Butler, who played at Iowa State from 1998-2002, was part of the five straight wins for the Cyclones over the Hawkeyes in that stretch. Butler now works for a medical sales company called Stryker, and acknowledges that the Iowa-Iowa State game carries more weight with players.

“Let’s not sugarcoat it. This means a litte bit more to [Iowa State] than other games do,” Butler said. “[Iowa State just has] to now continue to play [its] game and focus on [its] details.”

To players like Butler and former tight end Mike Banks, the rivalry meant more because they’re from Iowa and have known about it all their lives.

Banks, who played in the NFL for the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints, also has a connection to the Hawkeyes that makes the rivalry personal to him.

“[The rivalry] meant everything to me,” Banks said. “I was recruited by both schools. The Hawkeyes were the first to try to get me to come to one of their football camps … I go out there and they blow me off. Coach McCarney and his staff recruited me … and ever since then I couldn’t wait to play those guys.”

Banks played at Iowa State with Butler from 1998-2001 and also never experienced a loss to Iowa. For Banks, having that in-state tie like Butler gives them something in common with current players like running back Jeff Woody and linebacker Jake Knott, who know about the rivalry and are eager to change recent history.

“To bring [a victory] back to Ames would just be unbelievable,” Woody said. “Growing up in Des Moines, you know how big it is, and how much trash talk there [is] between fans, between co-workers, students. To bring it back to the cardinal and Gold, to etch it in that trophy [would just be] unreal.”

Banks said it’s pretty easy for in-staters to understand, but players who come to Iowa State from elsewhere learn quickly what the rivalry means. He said they build bonds with the players who are from Iowa and can relate.

That sentiment is echoed by former receiver Craig Campbell, whose most memorable play as a Cyclone was a forced fumble following an interception of Seneca Wallace in their 2001 comeback win.

“It meant a lot to me and it meant a lot to my teammates,” Campbell said. “In California right now we have an Iowa State Alumni Association that we do game watches with. We still watch that game with alumni from all over the world that are in the Los Angeles area.”

Each and every player and coach who talks about the rivalry expresses that it meant everything to win and was painful to lose. McCarney knows the feeling all too well, experiencing both feelings several times.

“It’s the highest of highs and the lowest of lows,” McCarney said. “There’s no question about it. That’s what it was. Every time we won that game, I took that Cy-Hawk trophy with me home.”

And if the Iowa Corn people are wondering what they’ll do with the old Cy-Hawk trophy that’s being replaced, McCarney has a suggestion for what to do with it.

“If they are changing trophies, which I heard they are, I’ll go ahead and take it home,” McCarney said with a laugh. “I’ll take and put it in my house if someone wants to get rid of it.”