There are plenty of superlatives — Farmageddon, the game at Arrowhead, another Saturday against Kansas State — but the Cyclone football team is just concerned with getting back in the win column Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

After a thorough 35-7 defeat against the No. 9 Iowa Hawkeyes last weekend, Iowa State is set for a neutral site match-up with the 2-0 Wildcats, a Big 12 Conference game unusually early in the season.

“It was a loss that was pivotal for us last year, in a positive sense, we were a football team trying to learn how to win ball games,” said coach Paul Rhoads. “Hopefully we can remember those lessons and continue to carry them over with the loss from last week.”

ISU quarterback Austen Arnaud said the team had already closed the book on the loss to the Hawkeyes, but playing Kansas State at Arrowhead Stadium means learning from another loss as well. Last year the Cyclones lost 24-23, as the Wildcats blocked an ISU point after try that would have tied the game with :32 left on the clock.

There is plenty for Iowa State to overcome in just a week, but Rhoads doesn’t think the pressure should weigh down any of his players.

“I think playing with a chip on your shoulder and all that is overrated and can be counterproductive,” Rhoads said. “They’re upset that we got beat soundly and by 28 points. I think the response and motivation to go win is strong regardless.”

The Wildcats bring to Kansas City the 14th-ranked running game in the country, and senior running back Daniel Thomas is averaging 185.5 yards per game alone. At 6 feet, 2 inches and 228 pounds, Thomas has been the focus of the ISU defense this week.

“He’s going to be as good a back as there is in this country I think, if he can stay healthy,” said defensive coordinator Wally Burnham. “This kid can get in the hole and make one jump move and be going full-speed again. That’s what’s scary, he can break one for 90 yards on any snap.”

Kansas State also runs a quarterback-running back option like the Cyclones haven’t faced this season, and while their passing yards don’t indicate much success, quarterback Chase Coffman is 16th in the country in quarterback efficiency.

“I think we have all the physical tools to play, and we’ll be ready,” said sophomore linebacker Jake Knott.

Slowing down the option and Thomas are enough of a challenge, but the Cyclones lost starting middle linebacker Matt Tau’fo’ou to a broken fibula against the Hawkeyes, and will be extremely slim at linebacker.

Matt Morton is listed at the starter at strong side linebacker, as sophomore and leading tackler A.J. Klein moves to Tau’fo’ou’s spot in the middle. A 6-foot, 207-pound redshirt sophomore, Morton and if necessary, true freshman Jeremiah George will have to support the defense against Thomas and Coffman.

“I’m worried of any snap they take. We’re so young, and I’m not using that as an excuse, but we’ve got to get better,” Burnham said.

The Cyclone offense has a healthier lineup than their defensive counterparts but scoring just seven points on the road in the second game of the season means improvement is necessary.

“We gotta score points. Twenty-seven was OK in the home opener, seven was unacceptable in the second game. We’re at 17 points a game, that’s not enough to win enough football games,” Rhoads said.

In the past, Big 12 Conference games didn’t begin until each team finished their non-conference schedule. Iowa State will play two Big 12 games before their non-conference games end in 2010. The Big 12’s scheduling of conference games will continue to overlap through Colorado’s planned departure in 2012.

“I don’t think we have any less focus or concentration if we were playing any other team this week,” Rhoads said.